This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 556: The Plague Burns on the Torch

Chapter 556: Chapter 556: The Plague Burns on the Torch

"Today is January 1, 2342, by the old calendar, January 1 in the 213th year of the Wasteland Era. Here are today’s major news stories from the Alliance."

"The New Year’s Eve event has successfully concluded. Celebrations were held in all Alliance settlements last night to welcome the new year..."

"Stone City Hall has announced that as of today the curfew will be lifted; the blockades at the various gates of the Giant Wall will also officially be removed starting today. At the same time, the city entry tax collected for the construction of the Giant Wall will be canceled, and the height of the Giant Wall will no longer be increased."

"On the other hand, to deal with the impact of the unstable situation in Qingquan City, a 200-person volunteer team composed of teachers, medical personnel, biologists, and engineers has already arrived at the North Airport of Dawn City from Ideal City."

"The Manager, in his New Year’s Eve speech, stated that improving the standard of living for residents remains a central focus of the Alliance’s work for the new year. The Alliance’s registered population has now surpassed the one million mark. In addition to the under-construction affordable housing and rail transport, 12 new full-time schools and 8 new social support facilities will be added..."

"Broadcasting for you by Survivor’s Daily!"

The firewood in the fireplace crackled.

The warm air induced drowsiness, as if even the sonorous voice from the radio and the ticking of the wall clock seemed stretched out.

This is Dusty Town, located at the edge of the ruins of Jinhe City in Jinchuan Province, about seven or eight hundred kilometers from Qingquan City, roughly the same distance as Jiang City to Mountain City in reality.

Since Giant Stone City joined the Alliance, several new signal stations have been built recently, and several broadcast stations including Survivor’s Daily have added medium and shortwave signal bands.

Although special climates such as radioactive clouds on the Wasteland can affect electromagnetic signals, this interference is not absolute.

Now, Jinchuan Province can also intermittently hear some voices from the Alliance.

"How wonderful."

Listening to the content of the broadcast, Tranquility’s face carried a bit of longing.

For the New Year’s Eve event, it was said that there were red packets for all participants, with prizes starting at 6 silver coins and the highest being a set of Dragon Cavalry power armor.

And it was the kind without rank restrictions!

What a pity...

The event was only held within the Alliance territories.

The entire Dusty Town has only three players; although they dragged the locals into holding a ceremonial event, the food offered as sacrifices was only a few meager types.

After distributing the uneaten sacrifices to the children of the village, he simply didn’t log on last night, and ordered takeaway to enjoy offline instead.

Sighing, Tranquility turned towards the lizard basking by the fireplace and called out.

"Hey, Trash Brother."

Pick up trash 99 level adjusted its bottom and lay down in a different position, responding lazily.

"What’s up."

Unable to hold back, Tranquility blurted out.

"We’ve been stuck in this dump for half a year now; how much longer are we staying!"

The plan was to head south together.

Yet the other two guys have planted roots here and refuse to move.

Trash Brother chuckled and said.

"No rush, no rush. That ’Nago’ matter isn’t settled yet; we can’t just abandon those villagers, right?"

According to official website information, it’s been confirmed that Nago and Jade Fruit are the same thing, suspected to originate from the South Ocean Archipelago, entering the southern parts of Central Continent through the ports of Death Coast.

Sunset Province is one of the most affected provinces.

Combining official website predictions about the next version, Trash Brother and Difficult for the strong believed there was some unspeakable conspiracy behind Nago.

Thus, they decided to stay.

On one hand, they observed the condition of a user in the village, and on the other hand, they sent some observed samples back to the Biological Institute within Alliance territory.

At the same time, they kept an eye on the movements of the "Qi" Mutant tribe.

However, several months have passed, with no new actions from either Nago or the Mutant tribe, and Tranquility was starting to get impatient.

They have made no progress for several months!

Not even heading south, the least they could do is form a group and head home to save their progress!

Watching Trash Brother’s relaxed face, Tranquility couldn’t help but tease.

"You haven’t gotten addicted to playing god, have you?"

Trash Brother paused, then laughed heartily.

"Hahaha, of course not!"

The smile seemed a bit forced.

Tranquility rolled her eyes in response.

At that moment, a knocking sound came from outside the door, as if the noises were traveling right along the floor.

Guessing who it was, he sighed, got up from the chair covered with a blanket, and went to open the door.

A fat old rat tall as a knee slinked in, and the cold air that rolled in with it made Trash Brother unconsciously shrink his neck.

"There’s trouble."

As soon as he heard ’there’s trouble,’ Tranquility’s eyes lit up, no longer drowsy. Trash Brother quickly got up and leaned in.

"What’s the trouble?!"

"Spill it!"

Seeing his companions’ eager expressions, Difficult for the strong cleared his throat and spoke mysteriously.

"I’ve been keeping an eye on that Town of Hope lately, right? Yesterday, some charlatans showed up there."

Tranquility paused for a moment.

"Charlatans?"

"Yeah, the kind who are either pastors or apostles. I thought there was something off about those guys, so I snuck in to eavesdrop on their conversation—they rambled on about a bunch of nonsense. Basically, the radiance of Sky Fire will soon shine upon this land corrupted by chaos, all sins will be cleansed, and embracing the glorious evolution will allow you to join a kingdom of God, free from all suffering and sickness... Then they immediately requested the locals to build a church for their Saint Heir."

Confused, Tranquility asked.

"What does evolution mean..."

It was the only keyword she understood.

Difficult for the strong shook his head.

"I don’t know, maybe it’s Nago. At first, I thought Nago was something the mutants made, but it turned out to be the doing of those guys from the south..."

Saying this, he dipped his finger in the melted snow on his hair and drew two inverted triangles on the floor.

"Their robes have this symbol on them."

Looter leaned in to take a look, his brows gradually furrowing.

"Torch?"

Difficult for the strong nodded.

"Yeah, the Torch Church."

I want tranquility rubbed the back of his head, a bit puzzled as he spoke.

"Actually... I don’t quite understand why you guys are so fixated on that Torch Church. As long as they don’t cause trouble, it doesn’t really matter what they believe in, right?"

It seemed like the Alliance had quite a few people who believed in the Great Antler God, and most survivors in the Sunset Province also believed in their Spirit of the Sand Sea.

When there were no laws to constrain people’s words and actions, faith could play a small role.

Although the Torch Plan wasn’t anything good, the Torch Church didn’t seem to have much to do with it aside from the similar symbol.

He was a newbie who came in during the B test phase and didn’t really understand what had happened during the A test.

Difficult for the strong glanced at him.

"What if there are mutants among the missionaries?"

I want tranquility froze.

"Mutants?!"

Weren’t mutants known for treating humans as food?

What kind of widespread belief could assimilate mutants like that!?

Looter cracked a smile and said.

"Even without that, we couldn’t let them off. I haven’t forgotten that during the Bone Chewing Chaos, the Army and the Free State provided those Looters with weapons, and they provided those Looters with faith and high technology; the first batch of neural connection equipment the Alliance got was seized from their hands."

Almost the entire central part of the River Valley Province had been wiped clean by these people. Many residents of the Alliance were survivors of that heroic clash, and this was a score that had to be settled sooner or later.

Difficult for the strong, with furrowed brows, said tensely: "I don’t know what they’re planning to do, but I have a bad feeling... And if all the surrounding settlements start believing in that Torch, what about the Big Horn Rat and the Great Antler God?"

When he heard the first part, I want tranquility was contemplating seriously, but at the second part, he nearly choked on his own saliva.

"...You’re just worried about being kicked off the pedestal!"

Looter coughed once, ignoring his ridicule.

"Regardless... Since it involves the Torch Church, we can’t be careless about this. I’ll go ask for everyone’s opinions on the official website first."

What he truly dreaded was something else.

Perhaps it wasn’t the Torch Church that assimilated the mutants, but those fanatics who, through some method, systematically turned people into mutants and made this land suitable only for mutants to live on.

Ordinary people and animals that consumed Nago for a long period would experience hallucinations and enter a state called "God Travel."

However, for mutants, it seemed that Nago only had the beneficial effects. They became stronger, and their prospects for fighting and reproduction increased.

Mutant tribes that lived by looting would scale up to a population of a hundred at most, but in the Great Desert, mutants had learned to farm, breed, and mastered social division of labor, boosting their numbers to over a thousand.

And here, the mutant tribe called "Qi" had a scale of over ten thousand!

It wasn’t possible to sustain such a large population with just primitive breeding methods.

His intuition told him that there was most likely some terrible conspiracy brewing in this land...

Closing his amber eyes, the "God of Lizards" from Dusty Town hurriedly logged off to visit the official website.

I want tranquility opened his mouth as if to say something, but a sudden rush of knocking at the door interrupted his train of thought.

Walking over to open the door, he saw the village chief standing there, speaking with a tense expression.

"My lord, I’m sorry to disturb you... There’s a visitor at the village gate."

I want tranquility frowned and asked,

"Visitor? What visitor?"

It was winter now, and outside, there were hardly any wandering merchants to be seen, and for safety reasons, merchants headed straight for their destinations. Unless they were running out of supplies, they wouldn’t approach a settlement that didn’t look prosperous.

The village chief lowered his gaze respectfully and said.

"That fellow claims to be the Servant of a certain Saint Heir, spouting nonsense, insisting that we are blinded by savagery and need to be rescued from our misery..."

As he spoke, the old man clenched his fists, cursing indignantly.

"I told them, we have our own beliefs, and we don’t need their heretic nonsense, nor their Nago!"

I want tranquility and the fat old rat behind him exchanged a look.

Well, damn!

It’s spread here too?

That was way too fast!

...

"The Wasteland OL" Official Website.

The forum was still as joyful and bustling as ever.

[Event Announcement: New Year’s Eve Event Successfully Concluded!

Giant Stone City Division Voting Results: The food most popular with players is "Cream Leech Mushroom Soup," the food most popular with the Wasteland Wanderers is "Cotton Candy," and the food most popular with the Managers is "Corn Beef Patty"!]

[Update: New "Mercenary Guild" System Introduced]

[Explanation: Some commissions from the Merchant Guild have been transferred to the Mercenary Guild, players can now register as mercenaries and accept tasks through VM.]

Tail: "Wuwuwu, the Mercenary Guild! My Mercenary Guild! I was the first to think of it! QAQ"

Quit smoking: "Haha! Ah Guang copied straight from the forum, busted! (evil grin)"

Si Si: "Pat pat, don’t cry Ah Wei, we can set one up outside the Alliance territory."

Gui Gui: "Oh wow! Our cotton candy actually made the cut!"

Feng Qing: "Yay, limited title unlocked! Hehe, happy!"

Night Ten: "Damn it, why sweets again! Seems like it was sweets last year too! Do these Waste Land Wanderers just love sugar that much! (freaking out)"

Tomato Scramble with Eggs: "Exactly! Why isn’t our Braised Battleship Shrimp selected! It’s so delicious! T.T"

Night Ten: "The worst part is, Fang Chang’s wife only gave us an 8!"

Fang Chang: "You guys... you insisted on having a panel of pretty girls as judges because of their looks, and now you complain when they favor sweet food. (sideways glance)"

He did drag Dolly to the brothers’ stalls last night and, out of courtesy, ordered a big bowl.

But because it was too greasy, Dolly barely had a few bites, and he ended up eating all the peeled shrimp.

With full marks being 10, getting an 8 wasn’t too shabby.

However, since the final scores of the event weren’t a simple average or cumulative total, but rather calculated based on a specific formula, "positive reviews" and the number of attracted judges were significant factors, so just one high score clearly wasn’t enough to win.

Although the heavily greasy aroma of the Battleship Shrimp lured in many customers, the entire street was permeated with the scent of cotton candy last night.

And that stuff doesn’t fill you up, so you can still manage a bite or two even after a full meal.

With so many buffs stacked, it seemed like the outcome was determined from the start...

Night Ten: "Hiss... that was careless!"

Old White: "Haha, got it, next time we’ll pick some drinking buddies! Come up with some dishes that go well with booze! (evil grin)"

Teng Teng: "Ah, but seriously, seeing Little Fish blissfully soaking in the cotton candy is just too healing. (@´ㅂ`@)"

Crow: "Indeed~"

Night Ten: "!!! I cast a vote for Little Fish!"

WC really has Mosquitoes: "Sniff... damn it, I want to raise one too!"

Tail: "@Light, Mr. Police Officer, this is the person! (｀∀´)Ψ"

WC really has Mosquitoes: "Damn! I was just blustering! (alarmed)"

Elena: "Let’s file a record, brother. (teasing)"

WC really has Mosquitoes: "%￥#@!"

Pick up trash 99 level: "Big news! Seems like there’s some movement with the DLC down south!"

Fang Chang: "What’s going on?"

Pick up trash 99 level: "A few Apostles from the Torch Church have shown up in Dusty Town to proselytize! They’ve reached out to places just over eight hundred kilometers away from us!"

Mole from the canyon on the run: "Where’s Dusty Town again..."

Pick up trash 99 level: "Uh, that’s the place I told you guys about before, hehe."

Debt Giant Eye: "Oh, your village, right. (teasing)"

Brick Boy on the Construction Site: "Damn, I thought it was something big. (teasing)"

Pick up trash 99 level: "Damn! I’m talking about serious stuff here!"

Old White: "Trash bro, your settlement is near Jinhe City, right?"

Pick up trash 99 level: "Right! That’s the place!"

Old White: "Good, we have a mission to Jinhe City in a few days, we’ll check out the situation there. (showing teeth)"

Edge Shoveling: "Damn! What mission?"

Old White: "Recovering nuclear fuel. (showing teeth)"

Edge Shoveling: "Awesome!!!"

Spring Water Commander: "Envy crying! T.T"

Old White: "Ahem, we’re counting on you for supplies!"

Pick up trash 99 level: "Haha, don’t worry! We lack everything but food here! Oh, and bring us some seeds and fertilizer, we haven’t had a Commercial Team visit in ages!"

Night Ten: "Damn, you’re doing poverty relief there!"

Pick up trash 99 level: "What’s this ’poverty relief’? We’re helping expand the Alliance’s territory!"

Gnome King Riches: "Isn’t that like being a charlatan? (teasing)"

Pick up trash 99 level: "Ahem, that’s all bluff, don’t take it seriously..."

Elena: "How come I heard there’s already religious statues? (teasing)"

...

In the Manager’s Office of the Stone City Hall.

While the players were busily discussing on the official website, a report from the Guards Corps was firmly grasped in Chu Guang’s hands.

He had sent a team of a hundred from the Guards Corps to the south to gather intel on "Nago" even before the snowfall.

Nago first appeared at the Alliance’s celebration.

Though Heya told him that it wasn’t as scary as he imagined, he still sensed a whiff of conspiracy.

The Guards Corps’ investigation findings as well as the players’ discussions on the Forum seemed to confirm his suspicions.

"It seems like it’s not only viruses and bacteria... but also the Torch Church, Mutants, and Slave Owners from the South - these three unrelated trash heaps have all been amalgamated by this tiny fruit."

Reflecting on the report in his hand, Chu Guang clicked his tongue.

The Guards Corps’ investigation showed a high overlap between the Torch Church’s influence and the cultivation areas of Nago!

This was obviously no coincidence!

Those Believers took advantage of the Slave Owners in the Brocade River Province losing their food market in the Southern River Valley, secretly promoting this economic crop called "Nago," then spreading the Torch faith to those settlements that became entirely dependent on Nago.

As to why those survivors were so compliant, the Guards Corps’ clue was that the Torch Church had a so-called cure labeled "Holy Water."

It is well-known that most people and animals become increasingly docile after long-term consumption of Nago, periodically entering a hallucinatory state called "God Travel."

The specific manifestation is that they lose all response to external stimuli, immersing themselves in the illusion of happiness until death, not even resisting when preyed upon.

Just as the nematode is to the mantis.

Considering the characteristics of Nago, those who enter the "God Travel" state, whether human or animal, will become another kind of Nago in a different sense, passing the "Seeds" down the food chain.

Only mutants and Claw of Death, those powerful species born in laboratories, can be somewhat exempt from being captivated by Nago.

The Holy Water developed by the Torch Church can awaken people from the "God Travel" state, allowing them to live consciously in the illusion of happiness.

Initially, some Slave Owners simply fed Nago to their slaves to make them docile and obedient, but after experiencing the "benefits" of Nago themselves, they too began to consume it, and eventually willingly offered their allegiance to the Torch Church that controlled the Holy Water.

But the Torch Church did more than that.

They played the role of Shepherds, indoctrinating the Survivor Settlements, turning their inhabitants into sheep in a pen.

At the same time, they used the lambs within the pen to bribe the mutants of Jinchuan Province.

Addicts in the "God Travel" state could be mistreated without spoiling, making them the tastiest delicacies for the brutal mutants and the best nursery for their offspring.

This was also a clue discovered by the Guard Corps during their investigations.

The Slave Owners of Jinchuan Province, relying on weapons produced in the Southern River Province, could hold their own against the mutants.

However, after becoming addicted to Nago, the formerly dominant Survivor Settlements almost instantly lost their ability to fight and were swiftly incorporated into the Torch Church’s sphere of influence.

At the same time, mutants rarely invaded the Survivor Settlements within the Torch Church’s territory, and if they did invade, they would retreat quickly.

This undoubtedly suggested that the Torch Church had reached some kind of unspoken agreement or even a contract with the mutants of Jinchuan Province.

After reading the report on Nago, Chu Guang immediately turned to another investigative report on the Torch Church.

He had always suspected that the Torch Church was connected to the Enlightenment Society, but to his surprise, the investigation of the Guard Corps pointed in the opposite direction.

The core of the Torch Plan was to first destroy the world and then recreate it, ultimately achieving a rebirth of civilization in a literal sense.

The doctrines of the Torch Church followed the unfinished Torch Plan, agreeing that the world should be destroyed once, but their specific approach was fundamentally different from that of the Enlightenment Society.

They aimed to establish not a new world ruled by pre-war elites but a world where humanity would undergo a metamorphosis in the biological sense—

In other words, using the legacy of Old Humans to incubate the cocoon of New Humans!

They lacked the efficient Neutron Eradication Technology and did not count on being able to remove all species from the surface of the Earth with the push of a button.

Their true goal was to slowly and over time adapt the land through their expertise in biological technology to only suit the form of life "they themselves define."

They promised their believers that all survivors who suffered or carried sins in the old world would receive eternal blessings in the new world.

Plainly speaking, as long as the believers diligently worked hard, contributing to the plan of the Torch Church, they could become the grand "Perfect Life Form" in the new world.

And these so-called Perfect Life Forms were the source of Weilante People, Clone men with eight times the growth rate, and the Mutants—derived from the pre-war Singularity Technology that was never completed.

There’s no doubt, it was a crazy plan.

If the Enlightenment Society targeted post-war order and fear of old civilization, then the Torch Church was a speciesist terror against Old Humans.

Within the doctrine of the Torch Church, mutants were explained as "an intermediate product on the path to the Perfect Life Form for humanity."

Those crude and savage green gorillas were not perfect, neither aesthetically nor in terms of civilization, yet in the doctrines of the Torch Church, mutants, better adapted to the Wasteland than Old Humans, were still considered superior, possessing a higher "starting point" than the Old Humans.

So they used biological technology to transform some of the most devout believers into noble mutants, endowed with bodies so strong they were unmatched, as well as privileges that towered above those of the regular human congregants—the docile lambs!

However, the high echelons of the Torch Church were not proactive about becoming mutants themselves.

They were still waiting for a more perfect vessel.

And the church’s middle ranks who had already become mutants were also waiting for a better vessel, ready to evolve into a new form of life at any time.

"...There is no doubt that the Torch Church is currently the most pressing trouble, much more urgent than those criminals up north,"

Chu Guang succinctly concluded after reading the last of the report.

"I agree," Lu Bei, standing beside him, nodded and continued in a grave voice, "but there’s something that bothers me. The nuclear fuel provided by the Academy is right in Brocade River City, where that mutant tribe led by ’Qi’ is also located... I suspect those cunning researchers are planning to use us as pawns."

Even though it was an obvious fact, Chu Guang still looked at the young man with an unexpected extra glance and smiled approvingly.

"Good, I’m pleased to see you’ve noticed that."

Lu Bei smiled sheepishly.

"It’s all thanks to your guidance..."

Chu Guang smiled faintly, his gaze moving to the map hanging on the wall, crossing over the Free State and the Grand Canyon to rest upon the Wandering Swamp to the north.

"Many of us think of those at the Academy as bookish nerds. In fact, they are anything but dull; instead, they are incredibly cunning,"

"They might even be craftier than the Army and corporations combined, and they’re good at camouflage. To make us willing to bite, they will intentionally act as if we are picking up a bargain. They were probably already has their eyes on our south when were were fighting fiercely with the Army in Sunset Province."

Lu Bei furrowed his brows.

"Really..."

Chu Guang nodded.

"It’s an open conspiracy, and even though we know they’re using us, for now, it seems we have no choice but to go in the direction they want us to."

That’s one thousand cubic meters of liquid helium-3!

A whole 127 tons of fusion fuel!

Whether for the Alliance’s power armors or the fusion reactor in West State City, he needed to get his hands on that energy source!

Even if he had to do another job for the Academy, this generous amount of energy as compensation would be more than sufficient.

And the Torch Church was about to extend its reach into Brocade River City. If the Alliance did nothing, that nuclear fuel might just end up in the Torch Church’s hands.

Moving his gaze away from the map, Chu Guang slowly began to speak.

"Xiao Qi."

A voice full of enthusiasm came from beside him.

"I’m here, Master."

Without any hesitation, Chu Guang immediately issued an order.

"Notify the Burning Corps to assemble at least a hundred-man team in Giant Stone City on standby. They must set out to Brocade River Province, Brocade River City within three days!"

The voice that replied was equally without any delay.

"Understood!"

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