This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 517: Going Home

Chapter 517: Chapter 517: Going Home

Above the clouds, a uniquely designed airplane took off from the airport at the edge of Ideal City, heading toward River Valley Province.

It had a total of four engines distributed symmetrically on the four corners of its body, with two at the front and two at the back, emitting light blue plasma streams behind them.

This transport aircraft was a civilian-modified version of the "Tiger Whale" transport plane, with an elongated body and increased cargo capacity, plus an additional pair of plasma engines.

Since it was civilian, the aggressive name "Tiger Whale" had been changed to the relatively gentler "Blue Whale."

From the outside, the plane looked like an advanced version of a four-prop tilt-rotor aircraft, where traditional propellers were replaced with lighter, more stable, and less airflow-affected plasma engines.

Like the Tiger Whale transport, it could switch between horizontal and vertical flight modes and could even perform "lateral shifting" maneuvers that the Tiger Whale couldn’t.

Much like a quadcopter drone.

However, passengers on board, after experiencing such maneuvers, would mostly curse.

The plane was designed by a subsidiary of the Silver Wing Group, with over a-hundred companies participating in its production. Currently, only one had been completed and was already in service on the flight route from Yúnjiānxíng Province to River Valley Province.

The feats of the Pioneer significantly influenced the current mainstream thought in Ideal City, allowing Wu Changnian’s "Influence Expansion" proposal to pass smoothly in the council.

In the future, the company would not just focus on Yúnjiānxíng Province but would also extend its vision beyond, exploring future paths together with survivor settlements in various places.

They would not revert to the era of the Post-War Reconstruction Committee, where they unconditionally supported surviving settlements like the "Production Department" predecessors did, but they wouldn’t disregard these settlements like in the past.

The formation of the alliance had proven that not all Waste Land Wanderers were beyond help.

And this flight to River Valley Province was one of the outcomes of Wu Changnian’s submitted proposal.

His speech at the press conference that day had inspired many; hence, tickets for this inaugural flight sold out almost immediately.

If Li Shuyue hadn’t managed to get reserved business travel tickets through the Ruyue Group, the four members of "Bull Horse Team" would have had to stay longer in Ideal City...

"Damn! My luck is terrible today!"

Night Eleven leaned back in his chair with a gloomy expression, looking at the cards Fang Chang had placed on the table.

In the cabin, there were a total of two-hundred and forty seats, and apart from the front and back cabin sections, there was an entertainment lounge with a bar where android servers could provide drinks.

Before the plane landed, passengers could walk around freely from their seats, but in case of an emergency, they needed to follow the captain’s instructions to return to their seats or sit nearby in the safety seats.

To pass the boring commute, at Fang Chang’s suggestion, they sat at the table in the entertainment lounge and played Blackjack.

Seeing Night Ten’s distressed face, Fang Chang smiled faintly.

"Your cards are practically written on your face; beating you is too easy."

"But—"

"You’re going to say your expression is just a pretense, right?"

Seeing through what he was about to say, Fang Chang continued with a smile, "But have you considered that deliberate pretense already exposes your intentions?"

"Ah, I’m done... This guy is too shrewd!" Night Ten sighed and pushed his chair away. "Let’s just play Landlord instead."

He thought his high Perception Attributes would help him dominate at the card table, but he could only bully Old White who didn’t quite grasp the rules of Blackjack; he had never won against Fang Chang.

Watching Night Ten give up, Fang Chang said with a smile.

"If you’re not good at hiding your emotions, you could learn from Wild Wind... dealing with his poker face is tough, especially since he’s really good at math."

Wild Wind coughed lightly.

"Poker face is a bit much... It’s just that I don’t care much about winning or losing, plus there’s a pattern to follow, so I’m never surprised, no matter how good or bad my cards are."

Night Ten suddenly looked up.

"I’ve always been curious, actually."

The early bankrupt Old White asked with a smile.

"Curious about what?"

Night Ten glanced at Wild Wind.

"Why would a big shot physicist like Brother Gale even play games?"

Fang Chang chuckled.

"What’s so strange about that? Everybody has hobbies."

Wild Wind coughed lightly again.

"... Hardly a big shot, I’m just really into things that interest me."

Hearing this, Night Ten couldn’t help but remark.

"A word from you is worth a ton of talk."

Fang Chang looked at Wild Wind with interest.

"Speaking of which, what exactly are you studying?"

He had recently dipped into some artificial intelligence knowledge, even though he only read the introductory parts.

He wasn’t sure what topics professors of physics in universities were digging into, but if Wild Wind’s field happened to intersect with algorithms, it would be good to discuss his discoveries in gaming.

After thinking for a while, Wild Wind abruptly changed the topic.

"Didn’t we agree no talking about real life while we’re gaming?"

At this statement, Night Ten couldn’t help but burst out.

"Damn! We’ve known each other for years and you’re still pulling this! I’ll catch you in Jinling one of these days."

Wild Wind smiled wryly.

"Sure, if you come over, I’ll show you around."

Fang Chang glanced sideways at Night Ten.

"... Don’t listen to this guy bragging. He’s been saying he’s going to visit me in Shanghai for the past two years, and even though he’s gone from a high-school student to a university student, I’ve never seen him."

Embarrassed by the long delay, Night Ten scratched the back of his head, explaining,

"Heh... I was just waiting for a chance for us all to get together; it’d be more fun with Old White and Wild Wind too, no fun going alone."

Fang Chang rolled his eyes.

"Forget it, let’s just meet in the game."

Speaking of that...

There was actually another person.

He had also talked about going to Shanghai to meet him for some fun.

Fang Chang couldn’t help but think of someone who was terribly bad at playing "Game."

He just couldn’t figure out how that sales guy ended up making games.

He had never seen him show any interest in this area before...

While the four of them were casually chatting, not far from the entertainment room’s bar, at a long table, a well-dressed man was speaking with a slick tone to a group of young people who looked like tourists.

"...You mentioned Qingquan City? What a coincidence, I grew up in Qingquan City, no one knows it better than I do."

"Really?" A young man in his twenties looked at the man with surprise and continued rapidly, "Are you a resident of the Alliance?"

"The Alliance? Ah... you mean that," the man paused, then said impatiently, "There was no such Alliance when I left home to travel. The only real survivor settlement in the entire Qingquan City is Giant Stone City, the other small villages hardly qualify as settlements."

His name was Kishu, the second son of the bank manager of Giant Stone City Bank. In his early years, he was sent by his father to a familiar merchant to go see the world in Ideal City.

In the blink of an eye, nearly five years had passed.

In Giant Stone City, he was known as a spoiled young master. Even the nobles of the Inner City, seeing his father’s ability to make money and his mother’s family status, would show him some respect.

And the residents of the Outer City, let’s not even talk about it; no matter what reckless things he did, no one would bother him, and he frequently bullied men and women.

However, in Ideal City, it was a completely different story. No one cared about his father’s status as the bank manager of Giant Stone City, and the chips in his pocket couldn’t even be directly exchanged for money.

Thankfully, his father sent him money from time to time, otherwise, as a noble, he might have had to work in a fast food restaurant.

Ideal City was truly bustling, with many more people than in Giant Stone City, but staying in a room of a few dozen square meters, being online on Endpoint Cloud, and arguing with a bunch of fools was not the life he wanted.

Those idiots.

If anyone in Giant Stone City dared disrespect him like that, he would definitely find the person and shoot them.

If it weren’t for the distant journey, his father not giving him the chance, and his inability to save enough for travel expenses, he would have wanted to go home long ago!

Of course, his reason for wanting to go home wasn’t entirely because he missed the freedom there but more so because he wanted to do something to prove he wasn’t like what those fools on Endpoint Cloud said he was—he wasn’t useless aside from having a rich father.

Especially recently, the resolutions recently passed by the Corporate Council gave him hope, as Ideal City even opened flights to the River Valley Province!

He planned to use this east wind to revive his hometown!

Feeling the atmosphere was right, Kishu cleared his throat forcefully and continued with an uplifting tone.

"...Friends, we are entering an era full of opportunities! Did you hear Deputy Minister Wu’s speech at the press conference? From now on, corporations will expand their business scope more aggressively and proactively, and as the first stop for the corporation’s overseas business—Qingquan City in River Valley Province, with a population of over half a million in Giant Stone City, is undoubtedly the market with the most potential!"

However—

Unexpectedly, after hearing his speech, the young people didn’t react at all.

At least not with the excitement and longing he had hoped for.

"Wu... you mean that old man?"

"He’s not old, okay."

"Uh... right, but I didn’t really pay attention to what he said."

"What is Giant Stone City?"

"Weren’t we going to City of Dawn?"

"I hope I didn’t buy the wrong plane ticket."

The group casually chatted and laughed among themselves, clearly not taking his words seriously. They were obviously just touring, not very interested in business matters.

Kishu’s forehead twitched, but he still didn’t give up, attempting one last effort.

"Right, we’ll be landing in City of Dawn, but when talking about River Valley Province, we have to mention Giant Stone City, which might be the only civilized oasis in the whole southern part of River Valley Province. After arriving in City of Dawn, we could hire a team of mercenaries to escort us—"

A slightly taller young man coughed, interrupting his increasingly loud voice.

"The corporate foreign office warned us to be careful once we leave the Province of Yúnjiānxíng, as the strike team won’t receive our distress signals. If it’s not necessary, it’s best not to leave the areas actually controlled by the Alliance."

A young woman with glasses nodded, looking worried.

"Indeed, I heard... River Valley Province is where the ’Claw of Death’ originated, those creatures with horns on their heads can even tear through power armor."

"That’s probably an exaggeration... but will we encounter wild Claws of Death?"

"I don’t know, but Shelter No.79 offers tours of Claw of Death! I heard they even have the very first one that was ever created!"

"Claw of Death was artificially created!?"

"Just found out, did you?"

"You guys go ahead, I plan to stay in City of Dawn for a few days... I heard there’s a celebration in three days."

"Can we see that legendary Manager?"

"Ha, stop being silly, they won’t have time to meet just a tourist."

While these men and women chatted and laughed, their topic unconsciously shifted back to the Alliance.

Watching these stubborn folks, Kishu clenched his fist, and black lines formed on his forehead.

Damn...

These people!

Why won’t they listen to him!

Taking a deep breath, Kishu suppressed his anger and told himself to stay calm, not to let his emotions take over.

Most of those who bought first-flight tickets were wealthy individuals.

Either they had money themselves, their families were wealthy, or they were on a business trip.

If he could get some money out of these people to invest in the local industry of Giant Stone City, his plan would go much smoother.

He had it all figured out.

The problem with Giant Stone City was the stagnation caused by rigid social stratification; lazy survivors discovered no matter how hard they worked, they could never become nobles, and becoming a merchant involved the risk of getting skinned by the ’Looters,’ leading them to become even poorer in despair.

The solution was simple.

Just build another Outer City outside the existing one, turning the current "Outer City" into "Middle City," and wouldn’t the problem be solved?

Not just that, he also planned to borrow advanced financial experiences from Ideal City.

However, this card must be kept as the trump card; it can’t be played at the beginning.

There could be considerable resistance advancing in the Inner City; messing around in the Outer City would earn a spanking from his father, but if it were outside the giant wall, there would be no problem.

A digital currency based on credit!

Those bumpkins who have never seen the world would surely be astounded by his genius idea!

However, what troubled Kishu was that these wealthy scions from Ideal City weren’t interested in what he was saying, and those businessmen dozing off with neural connection devices couldn’t be bothered with him.

His gaze swept through the lounge and soon, he noticed four guys playing cards in the corner; his eyes lit up, and he walked over.

Meanwhile, Night Ten, who had just drawn a good hand, was contemplating how to manage his facial expression when suddenly, an unfamiliar voice came from the side.

"Hello, I’m pleased to be on the same flight as you. My name is Kishu, the second son of the bank president of Giant Stone City." To make his approach less awkward, he looked at the paper on the table and curiously asked, "What are you playing? Can I join you next round?"

"Poker... Wait for the next game."

Night Ten, utterly disinterested in this random NPC, kept his eyes intently on Fang Chang who was about to reveal his cards, planning to spot his weaknesses and strike back hard with his good hand.

Yet to his disappointment, Fang Chang didn’t look at his cards and instead looked at the man who had just spoken.

The bank president of Giant Stone City’s second son?

That is...

Alyssa’s brother?

Fang Chang’s expression showed slight surprise.

That’s quite a coincidence...

But then again, having not visited Giant Stone City for so long, he had almost forgotten that NPC who had once asked him to find a cat.

"My name is Fang Chang... These are my friends," Fang Chang politely introduced himself and then introduced each of his companions one by one.

Kishu stared at Fang Chang for a while, chewing over the name, feeling he’d heard it somewhere but couldn’t quite place it.

But that wasn’t important!

Anyone on this flight had to be influential; maybe he had seen him on some advertisement.

With a radiant smile on his face, Kishu looked earnestly at the young man in front of him.

"The moment I saw you, I knew you were no ordinary person," Fang Chang said with a smile.

"So, you intend to repeat to me what you just said to those others."

Due to Night Ten’s poor card skills, he could manage to play cards while listening to those NPCs talk. He hadn’t expected that this fraud who snuck on the plane would target him, nor did he expect him to be the second son of the bank president of Giant Stone City.

If he wasn’t lying, that was some identity.

"Since you’ve heard it, I won’t repeat it," Kishu lowered his excited voice, "How about it? Interested in revitalizing Giant Stone City with me? The market there isn’t just limited to five hundred thousand people; its influence can cover the entire Southern Region of River Valley Province and most of Brocade River Province!"

Hearing this, a smile of amusement spread across Fang Chang’s face.

Just as he was about to tease the guy with a tactful remark, something suddenly struck him, and he put on an interested expression.

"I see... So, tell me, how do you plan to revitalize Giant Stone City?"

Seeing Fang Chang show interest, Kishu couldn’t hide his elation.

"It’s simple! Well, not really simple, it’s just that no one has noticed—"

"Shush." Fang Chang made a quieting gesture, interrupting him, and then pulled out a business card to hand it to him.

"This important matter shouldn’t be discussed on the plane... Come to this address after we land."

Kishu took the business card and paused, staring blankly at Fang Chang without looking at the address.

"Have you... been to Qingquan City?"

"What kind of question is that? I’ve not only been there, but it’s also like my second home," said Fang Chang with a smile while looking at the bewildered young man, "Ever heard of Long Moon Group? If not, you’re really missing out, aren’t you?"

"Is that your company?!" Kishu was instantly shocked, but quickly regained his composure, "Wait, but I heard it’s a subsidiary under Ruyue Group—"

Of course, he knew the company!

He had even specially mentioned it in his last letter to his father!

Fang Chang coughed.

"You have a major misunderstanding about shareholding... But setting aside these issues, aren’t you curious how the ’Long’ in Long Moon Group came about?"

Long Moon Group was a joint venture between Bull Horse Group and Ruyue Group, just registered under Ruyue Group because of qualification issues.

As for why they used his name, Fang Chang also found it puzzling, but his brothers had no objections, so he didn’t mind.

After all, using ’bull’ and ’horse’ really didn’t sound appealing.

Kishu stared at him disbelievingly.

"Could it be..."

Seeing Kishu clearly misunderstanding something, Fang Chang gave a mysterious smile, made no explanations, and just pointed to the business card in his hand.

"Some things aren’t convenient to discuss in crowded places... We’ll talk after we land."

Kishu immediately stopped speaking, excitedly nodding.

"Right! Makes sense!"

Completely forgetting about the card game, Fang Chang quickly got engrossed in chatting about other matters with this NPC, the more they chatted, the more engrossed they became.

When Kishu learned that the person in front of him had also studied at Yunjian University like himself, he excitedly grasped his hands, looking like it was a meeting of long-lost friends.

Night Ten glanced at Old White sitting next to him.

"...I finally understand what Fang Chang meant by that saying."

Old White was momentarily stunned.

"Which saying?"

"That one about ’writing the cards on one’s face.’" Glancing at the two cards covered on the table, Night Ten sighed and gathered the cards, "These guys are too cunning; I’m really not playing this time... Let’s just play Fight the Landlord instead."

Brother Gale nodded profoundly in agreement.

"Agreed."

...

From the East Coast to City of Dawn, the airlines were still floating in the sky, while the Iron Heart, returning from the Great Desert, had already brought back its victory glory and banners to the Alliance’s capital city.

Chu Guang rested on the airship overnight and returned to the surface in a capsule with his little players at dawn the next day.

Three days later, City of Dawn would hold a grand celebration to celebrate the triumphant return of the Expeditionary Army.

Although the official start of the celebration had not yet arrived, the festive atmosphere could already be felt in the streets these two days.

In order not to disturb the normal life and work of the residents, and also to not prematurely exhaust the joy of the celebration, Chu Guang made a discreet entrance when coming down from the sky, and even specially instructed Luka and others not to come to receive him.

The Iron Heart, hanging the alliance flag, also quietly parked at the edge of the Elm District, refraining from advancing towards the settlement.

"Hahaha, Grandpa is finally home!" Mosquito, setting foot on the ground, let out a long scream, merrily heading towards the direction of the industrial area.

The war was over!

The era truly belonging to Goblin Technology had finally arrived!

Compared to those fast, efficient, and simple devices, he indeed preferred inventing something more interesting.

A few newbies stood at the edge of the wheat field, looking towards the bustling settlement in the distance, their faces showing surprised expressions.

"Is this City of Dawn..."

"Shocking!"

"Amazing..."

Rows of tidy houses, not a hint of the wasteland about them; red brick walls coated in white paint, with plenty of bustling construction sites on the outer perimeter of the city.

At this moment, the nearest to them was the train station of City of Dawn.

The open area in front of the station had turned into a hub for goods, with merchants coming and going constantly, and from a distance, the sound of their shouting could be heard. Huge wooden crates almost filled the entire freight platform, and train carriages waiting for dispatch lined up long before the platform...

This in itself was nothing to be amazed about.

Any city in reality was busier than this.

But what was jaw-dropping was that just a year ago, this place was still an overgrown wilderness with naturally no houses, let alone the field stretching as far as the eye could see.

Every brick, every piece of wood here was built hand-in-hand by the players who had entered the game since Alpha 0.1 version, along with NPCs.

The sheer shock of it all was much more intense than any photo could convey...

Glancing at those unsophisticated guys, I Max Black cracked a joke.

"You guys look like you just arrived."

Outlaw Maniac scratched the back of his head.

"Uh, this is indeed my first time here... My spawn point was at Shelter No. 79, and right after I was born, I got sent to the front line."

He still remembered clearly, not long after arriving at the front line, he was lured by some veteran players to a stronghold of the army to serve as cannon fodder.

Later, he accidentally found out from the forum that the pangolin was actually one of their own.

Waking Up Sleepy also nodded in shock next to him.

"Me too... This is my first time coming home."

I Max Black’s eyes lit up, throwing an arm over both their shoulders, all smiles.

"Old buddies from Beta 0.4, right? Hahaha! Come on, I’ll take you to see the world."

On hearing this, Outlaw Maniac instantly became wary.

"What are you up to... I dare not do anything illegal."

Waking Up Sleepy was similarly alert, eyeing him.

"+1! I was already in line before the alliance was formed! Don’t lead me into trouble!"

I Max Black pouted his lips.

"Cut it out, who wasn’t in line to get in... Relax, it’s just inviting you for a bowl of ramen, what’re you thinking early in the morning."

Hmph.

It turned out to be ramen.

Both of them instantly showed a lackluster expression.

Such high hopes for nothing!

Watching those little players chattering and walking arm in arm, the face of Chu Guang revealed a fatherly smile.

Although many players from Beta 0.4 had fought for the alliance for many days and died countless times, they actually didn’t know what the alliance was, simply treating it like part of the game setting.

At this moment, they might have a deeper understanding—that it was a home formed by a community of people, where individuals fought for more than just money and experience.

Of course, even if his little players had a new understanding of the alliance’s cause, he still preferred them to engage in the game in a joyful manner, not needing to carry the overly heavy burdens of "reviving civilization," "uniting the living," and so on.

That was his job.

Aside from his role as a manager of the alliance, he was also the game planner of "Wasteland OL."

In comparison, he would much prefer his players to approach the game with a light heart.

After all, as he had once said, it was a joyful and relaxed game.

Drawing his gaze away from the players, Chu Guang smiled and spoke.

"Let’s go, it’s time for us too."

Sitting on Chu Guang’s shoulders, Xiao Qi, resting his chin in his hands, had been watching his facial expressions.

Detecting a hint of loneliness not easily noticed, Xiao Qi thought Chu Guang was feeling lonely from no one coming to pick him up, and cheerfully encouraged him.

"Don’t worry, Master, Xiao Qi will always be with you!"

Chu Guang was momentarily startled, then laughed out loud, lightly touching Xiao Qi’s small head with his forefinger.

"Yeah, I’m glad to have you with me."

"Hehe."

Xiao Qi revealed a satisfied smile, happily swinging his legs.

As Chu Guang pondered whether to have breakfast first or directly go to the shelter for a check-up, a figure approached from not too far away.

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