This Game Is Too Real -
Chapter 550: The Rats Under the Giant Wall’s Shadow
Chapter 550: Chapter 550: The Rats Under the Giant Wall’s Shadow
Giant Stone City Industrial Zone, a notice stood at the entrance bearing names and numbers.
A dense crowd gathered in front of the notice board.
From time to time, excited cheers erupted as people who found their names exhibited the same exhilaration as lottery winners. Surrounding onlookers cast envious glances their way, regretting that they hadn’t responded to the call sooner or worked harder when they did.
Not counting the scavengers outside the city, Giant Stone City hardly had primary industry, just secondary and tertiary. Despite stricter labor laws sending sub-sixteen workers to full-time residential schools with food and lodging provided, there were tens of thousands of registered workers.
The 1,800 free apartments were like buckets of water poured on drought-stricken land, yet for many, they sparked hopes of better days ahead.
Lovett had said that once all the homes in this settlement were no longer drafty, and once the financial situation improved, they would consider building more comfortable and affordable housing for everyone.
Although not hopeful, Kent couldn’t help but wander over to the notice board, and what was initially a glance without expectation suddenly made his eyes widen in astonishment.
"...My name is there?"
Thinking he had seen wrong, Kent vigorously rubbed his dust-covered sleeve across his face.
After confirming his name and number were a match, he didn’t wait to celebrate, fearing it might be stolen from him. He immediately pushed his way to the front of the queue and completed the necessary procedures at the registry.
Holding the residence certificate in his hands, Kent bubbled with excitement, never having imagined he’d one day live in an apartment building.
But he still felt somewhat uneasy, so he couldn’t help but turn to the staff member and ask.
"How... how was housing allocated?"
The question came often. The colleague behind the wooden desk didn’t mind, proficiently listing the four priorities.
"Those displaced by demolition are a priority, workers who participated in construction are a priority, those whose homes are within the demolition area are a priority, and families of five or more are a priority."
Kent quietly tallied in his mind, realizing as a bachelor, he certainly didn’t meet the last requirement. He was ineligible for the first as well, but the second and third fitted him to a tee.
He had not only participated eagerly in the construction without slacking off for fear of looking lazy, he had worked strenuously, which earned him commendations.
His drafty shack was clearly within the renovation zone, and for some unknown reason, the new authorities seemed unable to tolerate any draftiness, even though he had meticulously sealed all the cracks with mud.
At the time, he stewed in frustration for days, muttering that at least the noble lords wouldn’t steal his shack. But now, he found himself unable to complain.
It seemed that the new lord wasn’t one to demolish and then neglect.
However, it was hard for him to believe in such miraculous good fortune raining down from heaven, and he kept feeling that someone would surely take it all away. Unable to hold back, he ventured one more question.
"The apartment... it’s really free to live in? No charge?"
The staff member replied with a smile.
"No charge! As long as you don’t own any other property in the Alliance, you can live there until it becomes a dangerous building, at which point we’ll provide a replacement. Oh, and one more thing, every household will have water and electricity supply. It’s currently quota-based and free, with a monthly allowance that carries over if not used. After winter, if the allowance runs out, there will be a charge for utilities."
What was water and electricity?
Kent was momentarily puzzled, failing to grasp the concept, but hearing that after winter there would still be a cost, his mind found some relief.
He was right after all; the lords were still around, just not called Lord Fang Ming anymore; instead, it was a carpenter named Lovett.
And since Lovett was appointed by the Manager, the noble of Giant Stone City must be the Manager.
But actually, that wasn’t so bad.
After realizing he was right, Kent wasn’t upset; in fact, he felt somewhat pleased.
It wasn’t such a bad thing after all.
Legally speaking, those who made it into the refuge back then were definitely nobles from the United Human, so its rightful successors were those in the refuge.
Going further back, Giant Stone City was a settlement planned by the War Construction Committee, so the city’s authentic lineage was in the north.
"North Suburb... North Suburb..."
Kent’s eyes lit up, but he also felt a bit embarrassed.
Damn Haus, daring to call all of us "North Suburb bumpkins" and "Blue Ground Squirrels," almost ruining the big plan!
That great Manager and his warriors are clearly the saviors of humanity!
I was deceived!
"Long live the Manager!"
Kent, finally justifying himself, got so excited he shouted it out on the street but didn’t dare to be loud, his voice drowned out by the crowd and ignored by everyone...
He felt somewhat embarrassed, his face turning red as he shouted "Long live the Alliance" to show his loyalty. This time, people heard him and laughed while congratulating him on moving into his new house.
Kent couldn’t stop grinning from ear to ear. He nodded and returned the greetings, happily accepting the well-wishes, grateful for being part of a new community, and hurried off.
...
"Wasteland OL" Official Website.
[Server Announcement: ]
[The second annual "Wasteland OL" New Year’s celebration event!]
[Introduction:
Juicy and easily preserved Claw Crab Cakes have accompanied us through the cold winter of the Wasteland Era year 212, without those adorable creatures waving their pincers there would be no thriving Alliance!
In the past year, we’ve turned the Crack Claw Crabs by the Rhombus Lake into an endangered species, what miraculous Variants will we eat into extinction next year?
The answer will be unveiled tonight!
As last year, the Manager has prepared a mysterious gift for every Resident participating in the event. Winners will unlock the "Wasteland Gourmet" limited achievement and be permanently recorded in the Hall of Fame on the official website, along with the recipes!
The Alliance’s Manager once again solemnly reminds everyone: Even though this year has been a year of plenty, there are still many people going hungry, so remember not to waste!
Also, don’t stuff just anything into your mouth, beware of upsetting your stomach!
]
[Event Time: From Wasteland Era year 212, December 28th to Wasteland Era year 213, January 1st]
[Location: All settlements within the Alliance territory (including Bister Town)]
[Requirements: Use local ingredients, develop recipes, and make food that even a normal person (Constitution: 5) can eat!]
[Judging Rules: Two prizes will be awarded for each settlement, namely the Players’ favorite food and the local Waste Land Wanderers’ favorite food. As the Alliance’s fifth settlement, Giant Stone City will have an additional special prize, namely the Manager-approved delicacy (Ingredient sourcing is unrestricted, focuses of judging: quantity, affordability, taste, nutrition and health).]
[Designated taster for Giant Stone City: Crow]
New Year’s celebrations are almost a tradition for major MMORPGs games, and "Wasteland OL" is no exception. However, the Dog plan being lazy is now confirmed.
This year’s event is almost same as last year’s, still related to eating. It appears that a certain planner is hell-bent on testing the server’s ecological balance.
Ever since Claw Crab Cakes were designated as the specialty delicacy of the City of Dawn, all the Crack Claw Crabs along the Northern Shore of Diamond Lake have been hunted to extinction.
To hunt for Crack Claw Crabs now, you can only go to some collapsed waterlogged areas in the city, or to the lakes in the Western Province to the north to see them in large numbers.
Otherwise, you’d have to go south.
It’s worth mentioning that to secure a stable food source, some Wasteland Wanderers have started farming, researching how to breed Crack Claw Crabs that are less aggressive, breed more frequently, and have tastier meat, right beside Rhombus Lake.
This was beyond Chu Guang’s imagination.
Back to the event itself.
This year, unlike last year, the market in Luo Xia Province was opened, and food was no longer in short supply. The purpose of the event had also changed from solving a survival crisis to enriching the lives of the residents of the Alliance.
Giant Stone City was located at the edge of the third ring road, surrounded by high-rise ruins and underground tunnels. The variants active in this area were not only the offspring of slime molds; there was quite a variety of them. For experienced hunters, finding hibernating prey was not too difficult.
Chu Guang planned to continue this tradition, organizing a similar server event at the end of each year to make "monster hunting" a part of the culture of the Alliance.
Compared to celebrating the Great Antler God’s birthday, a festival created by the people themselves had much more significance.
After the announcement was released, it immediately sparked a heated discussion among players and backseat drivers. However, what Chu Guang didn’t expect was that the focus of the discussion was not on the event itself, but elsewhere.
Quit smoking: "Hahaha! Appointing an official taste tester, nice!"
Crow: "I’m going to burst! QAQ"
Makabazi: "Hahaha! Fat Crow for real!"
Crow: "Shut up! Where am I fat? Go die!!! (╯°Д°)╯︵┻━┻"
Teng Teng: "Damn it, this indecent guy... Planner, please nerf him, he’s too hateful! T.T"
Crow: "???"
Tail: "Wuwuwu, Si Si! I want to go home! (;д;)"
Si Si: "Don’t cry, Ah Wei, later I’ll have Meat Meat help you catch a big fish for soup."
Meat mountain big steamed bun: "This is the sea we’re talking about!!!"
Tail: "Oh! Last time Si Si caught a huge tentacle monster!
Si Si: "Err... that’s something I’d rather forget. (facepalm)"
Ahhh Sesame Paste: "Ahaha... there there."
Debt Giant Eye: "A tentacle monster? Tell me more. (amused)"
Construction site boy with a brick: "What are you up to? Are humans not enough for you anymore?"
Debt Giant Eye: "Scram! Do you think I’m that kind of person? (angry)"
Tumbling hair washer: "Dude, you play in pretty twisted ways. (amused)"
Gnome King Riches: "Old Na is exclaiming ’good lord’. (amused)"
Elena: "I’m just curious about the flavor, why isn’t it the Luoyu Brothers exclaiming ’good lord’. (amused)"
Luoyu: "???"
Fang Chang: "This game is too realistic. (amused)"
...
Following the release of the event announcement on the official website, hordes of players swarmed in from City of Dawn to Giant Stone City, and the plaza in front of the gates was bustling in no time.
It was as festive as a holiday.
"Forming groups to hunt monsters! PM if interested!"
"Split-claw crab nest discovered in South Suburban Sewage Treatment Plant! Any brothers want to join in pilfering crab eggs? We still need one more to work the nest."
"Damn, does anyone know what kind of meat this is? I seized it from a Looter’s nest... Any merchant brothers need jerky?"
"Hahaha! Throw it away, bro, you don’t want to know what that is."
"Damn! The homeless cutie I was supporting yesterday stole my wallet! I ain’t believing in love ever again!"
"Calm down, at least VM is still there for you."
"Wait... Are you sure it was stolen?"
"...?"
Although the New Year’s Eve event could be participated in at any settlement, Giant Stone City, which had just been included in the players’ territory, had an extra reward compared to the other settlements.
If most lifestyle players didn’t have other important work to do, they would rather go to Giant Stone City to join in the excitement.
Especially since that special reward would be personally judged by the Manager, this was a great opportunity to curry favor with the faction boss!
Those who were determined to win the title of "Wasteland Gourmet" surely wouldn’t want to miss out.
"These newbies truly are weak, needing to form groups to hunt Crack Claw Crabs, too soft!"
In a corner of the market.
Watching those chirping beta testers, Killer Dagger rested his hands on the ground and grinned like a baboon.
He didn’t strike this pose to show off, but mainly to conserve energy.
A few days ago, he underwent a cybernetic conversion by Huge Rock Military Industry, which turned his entire spine-to-shoulder area into a T-shaped alloy structure.
What was even more exaggerated were his fists; they were basically giant chunks of iron that could serve as shovel blades for an excavator.
Speaking of these fists, Killer Dagger found it puzzling.
He remembered requesting fists the size of a sand pot, like those of the enforcer from Piltover, but the NPC named Yibers, for some reason, gave him fists the size of a cauldron.
But it didn’t really matter.
Since they were already fitted.
Now he felt his hands were filled with boundless strength, one slap could kill a Strength Type, and the wind it generated could blow away an Intelligence System!
Of course, that was assuming the other person stood still.
Everyone else had taken the good names and was staring blankly at him, then after a long pause, they exclaimed in shock.
"Holy shit?! Where did you get five hundred thousand silver coins?"
If he remembered correctly, the price was around five hundred thousand.
At that time, he had mocked this fellow for putting on airs, but he hadn’t expected that this SOB would really do it!
Watching his dumbfounded buddy’s expression, Killer Dagger couldn’t help but smile awkwardly and told the truth.
"Not that expensive... I negotiated with the NPC and got rid of the ’pigeon’ missile launcher on the fists, and the price was adjusted to 50,000 silver coins."
Additionally, as part of the deal, he had to regularly submit product usage data to Huge Rock Military Industry to help them improve their products.
But that didn’t really matter.
What was privacy? They could use it however they wanted, as he didn’t expect to have any in-game X-rated action after turning into this ghostly figure.
Good dog was staring at him, not knowing how to react, and it took a long while before he could blurt out his next line.
"... Didn’t you choose the Agile system because you wanted to play stealth?"
"You just don’t get it," Killer Dagger grinned proudly, and was about to pat Dog Brother’s shoulder but thought better of it and refrained, "As long as I kill everyone, no one will know I’ve been there; that’s stealth too... Besides, don’t we already have a real stealth player in our team? Look, Old Kidney also got modified."
With that, he nodded in a direction, and Dog Brother looked over in bewilderment to see Kidney Fighter, wearing an alloy breastplate, grinning and walking toward them.
"Ha ha ha! Brother Dog, you’re here too? Let me tell you, Huge Rock Military Industry’s cybernetic modification capabilities are damn incredible!"
"...What did you have done?" Eyeing that alloy breastplate and the open-front jacket on him, Brother Dog always had an ominous premonition.
Kidney Fighter’s mouth curled into a smirk.
"Hehe... take a look."
Saying so, he grabbed his clothes and threw them up in the air like a lunatic, revealing his entire breastplate and two bare arms.
Only then did Brother Dog realize that the guy’s alloy breastplate wasn’t worn but was actually welded directly onto his body.
"Have you lost your mind?" Brother Dog stared at him blankly, "What the hell use is that..."
Before he could finish speaking, the pitch-black breastplate suddenly became as transparent as ink diluted with water until it disappeared altogether.
Brother Dog’s eyes bulged out like light bulbs, nearly popping out of their sockets.
"Fuck! Optical camouflage?!"
"Bingo!"
With only his limbs and head left visible, Kidney Fighter giggled and touched his head floating in mid-air, continuing.
"Too bad I didn’t have enough money, or I could’ve gotten a full set. But making just the belly invisible is decent enough, the target’s size is reduced by a lot."
Just like the Killer Dagger’s gear, the price was 50,000 silver coins, which equaled about half the cost of a Heavy Cavalry Exoskeleton. In theory, optical camouflage shouldn’t be this cheap, but since it was reclaimed scrap, it came with a discount.
If it wasn’t such a rare opportunity, he, a Strength Type player, wouldn’t have installed this thing on himself; to put it bluntly, he was just being cheap.
Brother Dog couldn’t help but give a thumbs-up.
"You’re a real piece of work!"
Whether it was effective for stealth was debatable.
But it could certainly scare the crap out of someone in the dead of night.
He examined it closely and found that the optical camouflage wasn’t without its flaws.
The slightest vibration could reveal a clear outline; it was only when perfectly still that it could achieve near-total invisibility.
Watching Dog Brother, who was beyond commenting, Killer Dagger chuckled and egged on.
"Bro, get yourself a set too, it’s really useful."
Brother Dog: "Useful my ass!"
"Yah—!"
As the two chatted, a sudden scream came from nearby.
A young girl, who had just left the market with a basket, was so terrified that she collapsed onto the ground.
Her face pale, she stared at Kidney Fighter who was now only a head and limbs, shaking uncontrollably and shuffling backwards on her hands and knees, regardless of the snow that was knee-deep.
"Monster..."
On the Wasteland, where odd things were plenty, floating heads weren’t common, especially not ones that were laughing at her.
"Don’t be scared, miss, this is just a... rather unique cybernetic body."
Kidney Fighter tried to produce a friendly smile and was about to explain in his broken United Human language, but before he took half a step forward, he scared the girl into fainting.
Brother Dog sighed and covered his forehead.
"You’re just asking to get kicked."
Killer Dagger whistled and propped himself up on his hands, shifting his body away, pretending not to know the guy.
Watching his two incredibly ’loyal’ brothers, Kidney Fighter laughingly said,
"Fuck! You guys—"
Before he could finish, the Alliance guards came rushing over in a hurry, and the players followed, stirring up a commotion.
"Holy shit, bro, how’d you make your belly disappear?"
"What’s this new BUG?!"
"Call the Terrorist Mobile Team! There’s a cyberpunk crazie here!"
"Cyberpunk crazie?! Where?"
"Hold on! Don’t arrest him yet! I want to take a picture!"
...
Above the massive wall, the howling North Wind blew tiny snowflakes through the air.
Looking down at the bustling market below the wall and the swarming crowd around, Yibers showed a delighted smile on his face.
"Your ’residents’ are all geniuses."
Standing beside him, Chu Guang glanced over.
"Is that a compliment or an insult?"
"Is genius ever used as an insult?" Yibers rubbed the back of his head, suddenly changing the subject, "Oh right, the X-17 project has been approved. When do you plan to go on a honeymoon with X-16?"
"Not interested."
"Not interested? Could it be... the Melvin family’s young miss? Tsk tsk, you must be crazy; that organic will definitely break down. Though—"
As the old codger rambled on with his nonsense, Chu Guang couldn’t help but deliver a kick to his backside, though it wasn’t quite proper given their generational difference.
Standing to one side, X-16 silently watched Yibers roll on the ground and get up without any intention of helping him.
Not that she could, anyway.
She had no doubt that she and Yibers together wouldn’t stand a chance against that human; he could pick her up with one hand and toss her outside the wall, even if he didn’t power up his power armor.
"Is this how you, Blue Jackets, greet each other?" Yibers, getting up from the ground, rubbed the back of his head and chuckled, "I see you’re upset... I’m pleased."
"Are you a masochist?"
"M? What’s that? Never mind, it’s good to be angry. Only humans get truly angry or happy... not AIs," Yibers shook his head, "Like my creator, the respected Mr. Fang Ming, he only truly understood what ’hate’ meant at the end."
Chu Guang looked at him.
"So what are you trying to say?"
Brushing the snow off himself, Yibers bowed slightly with grace, like a gentleman, a mannerism evidently learned from his former clients.
"...I’m pleased to be of service to a flesh-and-blood human. Although I have the utmost respect for Mr. Fang Ming, being a program’s servant is utterly boring."
Chu Guang looked at him a bit surprised.
"And here I thought you enjoyed causing chaos."
"That’s not a contradiction, AI should serve humans, shouldn’t it?" Yibers said with a smile, "Either way, as soon as you’re handed the tools of slaughter, you’ll quickly end up spilling your guts and brains everywhere until not a single one is left; it’s just a matter of time."
"One year and one second are the same to me."
Chu Guang let out a light sigh as he looked at Yibers, who spoke of dangerous things without changing his expression.
"For a second, I thought you might be a good person; that was my mistake."
When Fang Ming was coding his soul, he probably inadvertently mapped all his malice towards humans onto this guy.
Xiao Qi would dislike the people and things that he disliked.
And this guy was no different.
The more Fang Ming despised his mission before, the more this creature detested organics who displeased its master, though it was programmed to be utterly loyal to customers.
For humans, this is undoubtedly a contradiction; it’s difficult for people to be genuinely loyal to something they hate, but it’s a different story for AI.
Yibers nodded slightly, speaking politely.
"Let me correct you: I’m not human, I’m AI."
He can be loyal to his organic customers while providing them with more efficient tools for slaughter according to their wishes.
If anything, the existence of customers is essential to him.
Chu Guang couldn’t be bothered to argue with him.
"I have a question for you."
Yibers said respectfully.
"Please, ask."
Chu Guang got straight to the point.
"Are there any side effects to implanting a cybernetic body part?"
Ever since Mosquito upgraded himself with a flashy cybernetic body and started showing off, more than half of the server’s players became potential customers for Huge Rock Military Industry.
Some wanted to be more resilient, some wanted nitrogen acceleration jets mounted on their backs, and others wanted to... grow taller. And those were still the more normal requests.
The abnormal ones were like those in front of the market, with arms transformed into excavators, or those who, to save money, only turned half invisible.
Speaking of Mosquito, that guy was ruthless enough.
He once took a biological cybernetic body from Xiaoyu and hadn’t even figured out the symbiosis before he ordered eight mechanical hands from Huge Rock Military Industry.
Counting them up, his brain had to manage twelve limbs, hundreds of joints, as well as another small life dwelling inside his body.
Was that guy’s head okay?
Chu Guang remembered very well that he was an Agility Type.
"Of course, there are side effects; even drinking too much water can kill you, let alone replacing part of your body with machinery..." Seeing Chu Guang’s gaze growing sharper, Yibers quickly added, "Of course, we inform customers verbally and in writing about the risks of installing cybernetic parts that exceed their body’s capacity to handle! Every customer is fully informed before the installation!"
Chu Guang withdrew his gaze from him.
"From now on, non-resident of the refuge can only install cybernetic parts within the safe limits their body can handle. Cybernetic parts that feature nerve feedback, sensory simulation, and the like must be authorized with the signature of a neurosurgeon qualified to practice medicine. I’ll have my assistant send you the specific management regulations later."
The general residents still have to be controlled; even if they don’t turn into "cybernetic crazies," the potential medical issues are a societal cost.
As for the players...
Just let them be.
Three days for each clone; they usually don’t even bother with hospitals after a severe injury, choosing to let their teammates patch them up to save the trouble.
Now that the refuge no longer suffers from a scarcity of active materials, one could simply throw oneself into the converter if regrets ever arose.
Though reluctant, Yibers could only agree.
"At your command."
Chu Guang nodded, turned around, and was about to take the elevator down from the massive wall.
The population of Giant Stone City far exceeded that of any other Alliance settlement, and he still had to inform City Hall about the cross-year event and make preparations in advance.
However, just then, a loud explosion came from below the huge wall, causing Chu Guang to involuntarily halt in his steps.
"It seems to be from the outside."
Standing at the edge of the great wall, Yibers scratched his chin.
He leaned forward, looking down at the sprawling shantytowns below that resembled moss, and the billowing thick smoke rising from one area, continuing with interest,
"The slums are prone to such disturbances from time to time... that area is technically outside of Giant Stone City, not under its jurisdiction. If I’m not mistaken, it’s controlled by a few gangs."
In the past, the noble lords from the Inner City wished those beggars outside the wall would die off completely, only summoning some hands from inside when the Tide came, handing them rifles to fill the ranks alongside mercenaries.
Hearing the word "gangs," Chu Guang’s eyes narrowed slightly, and a hint of a smile suddenly formed at the corner of his mouth.
"I almost forgot about those rats."
But he hadn’t genuinely forgotten.
One of the first things the Home of the Refugees did upon arrival at Giant Stone City was to secure the survivors from the Outer City slums, organizing them to set up tents, providing food, and also registering their names, heights, weights, families, ages, and approximate residential areas.
This was both disaster relief and a population census.
The gang members had no interest in the porridge provided for disaster relief, nor did they show much willingness to sign up for construction work, settling for infiltrating a few low-level members or fringe characters as spies.
The Alliance had already moved part of the slum population to the eastern part of City of Dawn for unified management through a series of measures, with a massive labor force transferred to the construction sites in the tunnels outside Giant Stone City.
With all the comings and goings, the remaining young and able-bodied in the slums had become clearly profiled.
People have to earn a living somehow.
You either do business, become a mercenary, or engage in some unmentionable affairs.
The Guards Corps had already identified some of the gang leaders and top brass through interrogations of the Inner City Nobles and citywide inquiries.
Especially according to reliable information, the Dagger Gang — one of the three major gangs in the slum — maintained close business relations with Bugra Free State in the north.
Chu Guang had originally planned to deal with those rats after the Tide, but now it seemed they were entirely oblivious to the fact that the heavens over Qingquan City had changed.
Once the tumor within Giant Stone City had been excised, there would no longer be fertile ground for Looters to thrive in this region, and the Alliance territory would definitely not tolerate the existence of any dark forces.
Since they couldn’t wait,
then let them go fill the ranks when the Tide came.
"Should we deal with that area... Well, okay, consider that a rhetorical question."
Seeing the look of expectation on Chu Guang’s face, Yibers couldn’t help but reveal a grin that showed his penchant for spectacles, then turned to look at X-16 standing beside him.
"Some rats are setting off fireworks right under our noses, take your equipment and have a look there, don’t disappoint your master."
"At your command."
The pitch-black reflective surface shone with a chilling cold light; X-16 nodded slightly, without any superfluous words, turning towards the direction of the elevator and walking away...
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