This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 557: Marching Southward

Chapter 557: Chapter 557: Marching Southward

"Is this the place?"

In front of Pirate Bay Tavern, the street bustled with people coming and going.

Falling Feather glanced at the VM screen’s map and photos, then looked at the storefront before him, his eyes slowly lighting up with excitement.

It couldn’t be wrong!

This was it!

"Xiaoyu, let’s go!"

"Yi Wu!"

After confirming the target, Falling Feather immediately pushed open the door and entered.

The ten individuals who followed him, wrapped tightly in exoskeletons, also passed through the open door in quick succession.

They were all Xiaoyu’s sub-entities, lacking independent consciousness and sharing a consciousness entity with the lair, essentially serving as Xiaoyu’s hands and eyes.

Strictly speaking, sub-entities cannot move too far away from the source body, especially Xiaoyu, whose medium of information transmission was not spores but rather limited-range sound.

However, the Manager had equipped them with headsets, instantly turning a shortcoming into an advantage.

Although Xiaoyu’s main body couldn’t leave the refuge, as long as they were within the alliance’s signal coverage, Feather One, Feather Two, Feather Three...up to Feather Ten could communicate unhindered with the brain-like lair.

To avoid frightening the passerby NPCs, Falling Feather took advantage of the recent military discount in Giant Stone City and equipped all of them with the K-10 Iron Wall Exoskeletons, which originally cost 30,000 chips each.

When the visors were closed, outsiders could hardly tell what was inside the exoskeletons; they only saw ten burly men clad in metal lumps following him.

Thanks to this, wherever he went, he drew a great deal of attention.

"Would you like some—"

Hearing the jingle of the doorbell, the bartender who was behind the counter had just started to speak when he saw the line of shiny black exoskeletons.

Collecting himself, he changed his question.

"Here to take up a mission?"

"Yes!" walking straight to the counter, Falling Feather nodded excitedly, flashing the VM on his arm, "The B-class mission!"

As the group entered the tavern, they immediately attracted the attention of many, and as they heard the young man had taken on a B-class mission, there was a murmur of whispers.

"B-class? Hasn’t the Mercenary Guild just opened recently? How did someone reach B-class already?"

"It seems the rules for the Mercenary Corps are different. I’ve heard they have specific assessment standards."

"It looks like Awakeners can apply for level evaluations? They don’t have to start from G-level..."

"That makes sense..."

"But that equipment... it’s from the regular army, right?"

Strictly speaking, newcomers aren’t supposed to take on B-class mercenary tasks, but since the Mercenary Guild had just opened and wasn’t set up like the scientific expedition teams from Level A, they couldn’t just have the high-tier missions waiting.

Thus, there was a mechanism called "rank placement match."

Players who had just registered as members of the Mercenary Guild, as long as they were above Level 10, fulfilling the conditions for a single awakening, could have their combat levels like Soldier, Hunter calculated into a combat score by the system, and be assigned three tasks matching their combat capability.

For instance, if the tasks were graded C, C+, and B, and the player completed C and C+, but failed B, the initial level would be C+.

If all three tasks were completed, the initial level would be B.

If all three tasks were failed,

they would have to start climbing from G-level.

As the information held by the client is usually limited, the level designation is not absolute, and a task marked as C-level might potentially have S-level difficulty.

For players, opening a Blind Box was also part of the fun of Wasteland OL.

"A B-class mission, huh... well, it’s not an easy task," the bartender leaned closer to the VM for a look, then turned to Falling Feather saying, "Wait here for a moment; I’ll call my boss."

After speaking, he turned and walked into the kitchen behind the counter.

Falling Feather waited at the counter for a while until someone soon sat on the stool next to him and extended a right hand.

"White Shark, I’m the owner here."

Turning towards the NPC, Falling Feather introduced himself.

"Falling Feather!"

Glancing at the row of bodyguards clad in exoskeletons behind him, White Shark roughly gauged the strength of this mercenary troop and again turned to the young man before him.

"Falling Feather, huh... interesting name. Resident of the refuge?"

Falling Feather crisply affirmed.

"That’s right, any problem?"

"No problem, just making conversation. I think apart from you guys, nobody else would be interested in a mission that involves a long journey in the dead of winter," White Shark smiled slightly and continued, "Let’s get straight to the point."

With that, he took out a tablet, tapped it a couple of times, syncing the mission information to the young man’s VM in front of him.

Falling Feather instantly opened the VM and took a quick look.

The moment he saw the mission rewards, he was literally breathless.

The commission was one hundred thousand silver coins!

"This, this is too much!"

Seeing the young man’s expression as he eyed the money, White Shark waved at the bartender behind the counter to order two glasses of honey water.

After taking a sip from one of the glasses, he moistened his throat and continued speaking.

"The employer is a merchant from the south, from a settlement called Pinecone Wood Farm, located around Jinhe City, Brocade River Province. Your map should already be updated with the coordinates of that settlement."

Lifting his gaze from the commission, Falling Feather looked with confusion at the man named White Shark.

"A farm?"

"It’s just called a farm," White Shark said with a light smile, speaking softly, "It’s a quite famous settlement locally with a good number of residents, about fifty to sixty thousand. I know at least four merchants whose hometowns are there."

Jinhe City.

Trash Older Brother and Difficult for the Strong seem to be there too, but they are in a small village called Dusty Town to the north. I haven’t heard them mention other settlements.

Falling Feather nodded in understanding.

"I see."

White Shark continued.

"You have two tasks. One is to deliver weapons worth 500,000 silver coins there, primarily consisting of rifles, bullets, and anti-material weapons. You don’t need to worry about the transportation; you just need to provide security, collect the delivery receipt, and you’ll earn a third of the fee."

One LD-47 rifle costs about 300 silver coins, and a 7mm bullet has dropped to around 0.5~0.6 silver coins; these are currently the most stable industrial products priced by the Alliance.

The weapons of 500,000 silver coins, it’s already a considerable amount, probably needing four or five trucks to transport.

Falling Feather nodded, indicating his understanding.

"What about the remaining two-thirds of the fee?"

"The local lord is named Zhao Tiangan. He has a six-year-old servant girl in his house, named Yang Xiaoyang. No matter what method you use, bring her back safely."

Falling Feather frowned.

"Kidnapping?"

"It’s a rescue," corrected White Shark with a faint smile, continuing in a slightly amused tone, "Not just anyone is qualified to do business with the landlord. It’s either relatives or hostages...I think you understand what I mean now?"

Falling Feather nodded.

"I understand."

Whatever the contract between that merchant and the local lord was, and whatever entangled interests they had, after all, the work he was doing wasn’t anything morally reprehensible.

That was enough.

Seeing Blue Jacket nod, White Shark continued methodically.

"Anyway, the client and the target are direct relatives; your guild will verify this as well, so stop pestering me with questions about the client’s personal affairs... Anyway, once you find her, take her to the Giant Stone City’s Guild, and you’ll receive the full payment."

"The client will be staying here during this period; after the task is done, if you want to chat with him, it’s possible if the other party is willing."

Falling Feather made an OK gesture and jumped down from the stool.

"Alright, wait for my news."

A round trip of seven or eight hundred kilometers might take a month.

But considering one hundred thousand silver coins, it’s worth it!

Besides, aside from the main task, he could pick up some side missions along the way or take some private jobs posted on the forum.

Thinking this, Falling Feather was filled with motivation, almost eager to set off now.

Watching Blue Jacket turn and prepare to leave, White Shark suddenly thought of something and hurriedly called out to him.

"Wait a minute."

Falling Feather stopped and turned back to him.

"Is there anything else?"

White Shark spoke casually.

"I don’t have anything else, but there’s been a little situation recently where you’re heading... this is extra advice from an intelligence dealer. Even though the client has given you two months, if you want to get the full commission, I advise you to hurry."

Thinking about the discussion on the forum yesterday, Falling Feather read something from the expression of the NPC and slightly furrowed his brow.

Is it related to the Torch Church?

"I understand."

Seeing the young man’s earnest expression, White Shark smiled and nodded.

"Good, you really should understand."

...

In the open space in front of the Boulder Military Industrial Building.

Twelve light trucks lined up, and workers in KV-1 Exoskeletons were loading boxes of goods into the vehicles.

These goods included military supplies like weapons and ammunition, as well as electronic devices including radios and sleep cabins, and some were private items of the players.

Not far from the convoy, one hundred and twenty players had already assembled.

In addition to the majority of players equipped with Type Five and Type Six Exoskeletons, five ’Dragon Cavalry’ Exoskeletons were conspicuously present!

Just happening to come here to buy prosthetics, seeing the power-armored Quit Smoking, Gnome King Riches’ eyes widened in astonishment.

"Fuck, Quit Smoking, did you sell your ass?!"

Quit Smoking rolled his eyes.

"Fuck off! You’re the one who sold their ass."

Staring enviously at the mechanically impressive power armor, Gnome King Riches couldn’t help but reach out and touch its sharp-edged breastplate.

"One million silver coins, damn, even selling me wouldn’t fetch that much!"

Feeling awkward under that piercing gaze, Quit Smoking coughed and explained,

"Cough... actually, this power armor isn’t mine; it belongs to the Legion."

Hearing this, Gnome King Riches was taken aback.

"Aren’t we not supposed to exchange power armor at the logistics point?"

If he remembered correctly, the Legion System’s logistics points could only be exchanged for assembly line products produced by the Alliance’s military factories, and they didn’t even support the exchange of personalized custom equipment like prosthetic bodies.

Seeing the confused old Gnome, Quit Smoking gave an embarrassed smile.

"... I reached the knight Contribution Level, right? Old White and the others pooled together one million silver coins and bought it under my quota. Even though this power armor is tied to my account, it’s actually the Legion’s, and if necessary, it’s available for others to wear."

Old White’s reasoning was straightforward; the store’s power armor stock was limited, "Dragon Cavalry" even more so as it was a rare pre-war model. Who knew when new stock would arrive.

Better to buy it now with the money we have as it might be gone later. Just consider it the Legion’s equipment.

Initially, Quit Smoking was quite embarrassed, after all, that was one million silver coins. But after wearing it once, he got over it.

Besides him, two other main tanks in the Legion, and Body Constitution System players who had trained to the knight level also benefited.

As for why only five units were bought, because the store only listed fifteen units and buying all of them might get them yelled at.

Those who joined the game early already had enough advantage; they had to leave some gaming experience for others.

Moreover, with such expensive equipment, it wouldn’t just be randomly assigned under someone else’s name if they weren’t brothers-in-arms who had been through life and death together.

The game does not recognize the transaction of binding equipment ownership; however, it doesn’t prevent players from lending equipment to one another. If someone actually absconds with an item that’s under their name, the person who paid for it can do nothing but sigh.

This is why, after listening to Quit Smoking, Gnome King Riches was astonihed.

"Fuck! That’s allowed?!"

A few newbies from the Skeleton Corps nearby also said enviously,

"Jealousy is killing me!"

"Damn, Brother Mole is too stingy!"

"Exactly! Not giving us benefits is one thing, but asking us for a loan too!"

Although Brother Mole didn’t actually borrow from these newbies, that didn’t stop them from empathizing with the brothers who did lend money.

Watching those wailing newbies, Fang Chang chuckled and said,

"Be calm, your Brother Mole is still in the early stage of starting his business, things will get better once he settles things down in the Skeleton Studio in Ideal City."

Listening to Fang Chang paint a pretty picture, one of the newbies couldn’t help but swallow.

"It’ll get better..."

Fang Chang smiled and said,

"He’ll be able to make more money."

Newbie: "%￥#@!"

Though he said this, a point to be made, Brother Mole actually had quite the good reputation and was well-liked on the server.

Otherwise, so many players wouldn’t be following him and wouldn’t consider lending him so much money to start his business.

Fang Chang believed that once Skeleton Studio really took off, Brother Mole would certainly not let down his own Legion buddies.

"Speaking of which, why don’t you get a power armor yourself?" Night Ten glanced at Fang Chang’s exoskeleton and curiously asked.

Casually patting the "Dawn" mechanical bow on his back, Fang Chang calmly said,

"I’ve got this; it’s enough."

Power armor wasn’t always the optimal solution.

Even the lightweight OD-10 "Dragon Cavalry" would affect mobility to some extent.

For him, the Type-Five "Light Cavalry" power armor’s performance was more than adequate.

Plus, with his customized bulletproof pads and optical camouflage plugin, he was well-suited for a variety of battle scenarios, and a prosthetic body was unnecessary.

Wild Wind glanced at Night Ten and teased,

"Look at the guy’s scale, you being a sniper, what’s the use of wearing power armor? Better save up for an exoskeleton with an optical camouflage plugin."

He also didn’t have power armor.

For Intelligence System players, upgrading prosthetics and drones was the future.

Night Ten rolled his eyes,

"Shit! I have no scale."

"Hahaha! No worries, who said snipers can’t wear heavy armor?" Fang Chang laughed and patted Night Ten on the shoulder, "Brother, I believe in you!"

Everyone was almost all gathered.

He walked to the front of the line where Old White tapped on his helmet to activate the speaker, and shouted loudly.

"Mission brief has been updated on everyone’s VM, our destination is Dusty Town, a settlement in the northern part of Jinhe City, Jinchuan Province."

"Trash Older Brother has already gone there ahead of us to scout for us, where we’ll establish an operational base, then recover 127 tons of nuclear fuel from the research facilities in the city area."

"The journey is nearly 800 kilometers, over half of which is mountainous terrain; we expect it to take about a week to arrive with the mission lasting about half a month."

"The convoy will depart from the east gate at twelve noon! The advance team will follow me onto the plane in a moment, we’ll head over first with the engineers from the logistics department aboard the Viper!"

This mission wasn’t just about recovering nuclear fuel, but also included surveillance of local survivor forces and mutant tribes in Jinhe City.

The first advance team would be the first to arrive at the Jinhe City settlement, where they would set up a range of basic facilities including communication base stations, establish save points, and survey the city area.

The rest of the players would follow the convoy, transporting supplies and building materials to Dusty Town, to assist the logistics department in constructing the operational base.

All preparations were ready.

Wearing power armor, Old White walked to the elevator, getting ready to ride it to the helipad on top of the building, when he suddenly saw an unexpected figure.

Wearing a scientific expedition uniform, Chen Yutong held a suitcase and walked in his direction.

Their eyes met, and she greeted him with a smile.

"Hey."

This story-rich "hey" drew at least a dozen pairs of eyes upon Old White’s back.

"Hey, what a coincidence."

Whispering mischievously on the communication channel, Night Ten winked and clapped Old White on the shoulder before following Fang Chang and Wild Wind into the elevator.

Standing in the elevator, Fang Chang also joked with a laugh,

"The elevator’s full, group leader, wait for the next one."

Before he finished speaking, Wild Wind silently pressed the close button, shutting the elevator doors.

These damn guys...

Unable to help but chuckle as he shifted his gaze from the rising elevator, Old White turned towards Ms. Chen, who approached with a beaming smile, and coughed lightly as he said,

"Why are you here?"

Stopping beside the elevator, Chen Yutong replied with a smile,

"Can’t I come to see you off?"

Old White glanced at the suitcase she was dragging.

"Do you need to bring a suitcase to see me off?"

"You caught me."

She smiled, pressed the elevator button, and continued in a casual tone.

"Due to some confidential reasons, the Alliance has raised Nago’s threat level. The Biological Institute wants to obtain more research materials to accelerate studies on Nago, and there are also some investigative tasks that the expedition team needs to conduct locally, which I am currently in charge of, so I’m going to need a ride with you guys."

Old White glanced at the holographic screen inside his helmet, and indeed, there was an additional line in the mission section of his VM; clearly, she wasn’t joking.

Looking back at Chen Yutong, he unwittingly examined her equipment from top to bottom and frowned.

"It’s too dangerous there; are you sure you want to go with us?"

Spring City had been largely explored by players, posing little threat as long as you didn’t venture deep into the central zones.

Jinchuan Province was different.

Before they had arrived, there were only three players there, and they only operated in a small area of the northern suburbs.

Outside the players’ active area, there were mutant tribes with populations over ten thousand, and the southern Torch Church fiercely coveted the land below their feet.

It was, needless to say, a dangerous place.

"Not dealing with those things is even more dangerous."

She chuckled lightly, brushing the hair from her nose, "Besides, aren’t you there?"

Old White stared into her eyes for a while, making sure she was mentally prepared to return to the front lines.

"After getting on the plane—no, before getting on the plane, follow my commands, and you must report to me when needed! Also, give me the luggage."

"Thank you."

Chen Yutong handed over her suitcase, watching Old White take the luggage, she playfully said,

"I’d like to say I’ve already died once, but it feels pretty good to be cared for."

Died once, huh...

Is that even considered as having died?

Watching her enter the elevator, Old White shook his head in amused resignation, unsure what to make of her audacity.

He, who had died several times over, couldn’t even guarantee a safe return from every mission.

After all...

One must always be careful.

-

(PS: My computer crashed, the unsaved draft is gone, and I’m devastated. T.T)