This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 572: The Origin of Chaos

Chapter 572: Chapter 572: The Origin of Chaos

A Viper transport plane landed on the barren field, and two soldiers wearing exoskeletons jumped out from the side of the cabin.

These men were soldiers from the Guards Corps.

There was an active mission involving players, and it was usually their role to provide support and restraint.

These warriors were elite members selected from other military groups, all of whom had received injections of inducer expression serum; all of them were Awakeners without exception.

On the Forum, it was said that they were all the eyes of the Manager.

However, some players did not think so; after all, who could be more like the eyes of the Manager than the hardworking "Task Masters" themselves?

Watching the plane that emitted an arc of light from its tail, greed filled Kong Lingkai’s eyes, and he pondered how good it would be to own one.

Riding in it would certainly be much more comfortable than his broken wooden vehicle.

The two soldiers paid no attention to him; one walked straight to the genetically modified mutant’s body thrown on the ground, while the other approached Old White and gave him a military salute.

"We are ordered by the Manager to retrieve the body of the mutant ’Ogre.’"

Old White knocked on his breastplate with his right fist and spoke succinctly.

"I have already seen it in the mission brief. The rest is up to you."

"Understood!"

The soldier nodded, about to turn away, when Old White suddenly remembered something and spoke.

"By the way, are you heading back to City of Dawn directly?"

"Yes."

Seeing the soldier nod, Old White quickly asked.

"Can we hitch a ride? We have a few people here who need to go back."

The soldier hesitated for a moment before saying.

"I need to ask the Manager..."

After saying that, he turned and went back to the plane, connected to the communication base at the provincial border outpost through the aircraft’s radio, and got into contact with the shelter.

A while later, he returned.

"The Manager said it’s okay."

"That’s great." Old White smiled and nodded, then looked at Star River standing beside him, "Buddy, about that mission of yours."

Star River was stunned.

"Ah? This... is it okay?"

"What’s there to worry about? We have plenty of seats, five or six people can fit easily," Old White patted his shoulder, chuckling, "The Manager has agreed, so don’t be shy."

Speaking, he turned to the farm owner who had regained consciousness and was sitting beside the Mosquito Attack Jet.

"By the way, you don’t mind releasing the hostages, right?"

Kong Lingkai was startled, having not expected the armored man to speak to him, he hastily shook his head, afraid of even a second’s delay.

"No, not at all!"

"He has no objections," Old White looked towards Star River and Falling Feather, still puzzled, and chuckled, "Bring the people over quickly, don’t waste time."

Star River took the farm owner back near Hope Farm, and Kong Lingkai, anxiously not wanting to offend, sent the family out like evicting a plague god.

It was evident that Kong Lingkai was not willing to give up these cash cows, but his fear was genuine. He had no doubt that these people could annihilate him in less than half an hour...

"Are you sure you won’t reconsider? I’ll give you... 500,000 silver coins, just bring that guy over." Watching Star River preparing to leave, Kong Lingkai’s face was filled with reluctance.

Aside from the newly weaned child, hearing these words, the Zhou Nan family all showed fearful expressions.

They knew that if the young man agreed, they would certainly be doomed.

But their worries were obviously unnecessary.

Seeing the hopeful look on Old Man Kong’s face, Star River smiled and said.

"You’re thinking too much. Not even for one million silver coins, let alone 500,000. I can’t do something impossible for you."

Kong Lingkai grew anxious.

"Is it the money? I’ll offer—"

"It’s not about the money," Star River sighed, "here, there are things more valuable than silver coins."

Like the Game Helmet.

However, the NPC clearly didn’t understand and asked in confusion.

"Something more valuable than silver coins?"

Star River casually replied, "That’s right. In the Alliance, honor and dignity can’t be traded. We aim to establish an equal society... The Manager said."

Hearing this, Kong Lingkai knew nothing he said would be of any use.

His spirit deflated like a popped balloon, harboring sullen anger but daring not to erupt, he muttered indignantly.

"You all talk about equality... Is this fair to me? If I hadn’t given this ingrate freedom and the initial capital to amass wealth, how could he have his achievements today!"

Watching the man who wanted to rage instinctively suppress his temper, Star River shrugged.

"I’m not familiar with your dealings, nor am I interested in them. Perhaps in his view, serving you for so many years has sufficiently repaid the debt he owed you. Here, airplanes, cement, machine guns... many items are actually produced by us, aren’t they? Maybe in your view, these aren’t enough, but that’s another issue."

"If you ask me, you should have signed a contract, specifying ownership and profit-sharing, using written documents to bind each other, and we would ensure the legal rights of all partners. But with ’favor,’ which is vague, you clearly know that there would definitely be disputes in the future, right? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have taken a whole family as hostages."

"Anyway, kidnapping is illegal here, no matter the reason. You should be glad this place isn’t part of the Alliance’s jurisdiction yet, otherwise what came wouldn’t be mercenaries."

Not yet... what did that mean?

Watching the group walk away, fear rose in Kong Lingkai’s eyes, as the private soldiers and servants around him exchanged looks...

...

On the barren field.

Sitting in the Viper transport plane, Star River, seeing Falling Feather sending him off, said with a face full of shame.

"Good brother! I will come back to help you!"

They had agreed to help each other before, but he had left first, which made him feel somewhat embarrassed.

Falling Feather, however, didn’t mind and smiled, waving his hand as he watched the transport plane slowly rise.

"Okay! Have a safe trip!"

Carrying the body of the cybernetic mutant along with Star River and Zhou Nan’s family, the Viper transport plane, trailing arcs of light, flew towards the City of Dawn, more than eight hundred kilometers away.

Old White shifted his gaze from the plane back to Falling Feather.

"Let’s go back to town and discuss," he said.

"Okay!" replied Falling Feather, nodding and smiling. "I’ll also introduce you to the leader of the NPC team. He’s a local and knows much more about this place than I do."

Fang Chang suddenly thought of something and spoke.

"Is he your employer’s man, or the farm owner’s?"

Falling Feather scratched his head.

"I’m not sure about that, but my employer said we can trust him. He knows about the assignment."

"If that’s the case, then there should be no problem," Fang Chang nodded, his face contemplative but he didn’t say more.

As the group headed toward the Town of Hope, the town mayor and a group of key personnel had already come out to greet them.

The expressions on their faces varied, with some showing relief at surviving the ordeal, others gratefulness with effusive thanks, still others alertness and unease.

The leading man bowed politely.

"I am Ma Hechang, the mayor here, on behalf of over a thousand residents of the Town of Hope, allow me to thank you all for your assistance! Without you, few of us might have survived tonight."

Looking at the mayor, Old White smiled and said.

"You’re welcome, if it’s convenient, please prepare an inn for us to stay for the night. Oh, of course, we will pay."

Seeing that Old White was about to pay, Ma Hechang hurriedly said.

"Oh, how could we accept that? We’ll arrange the accommodation, and you warriors can stay as long as you like!"

Old White responded with a smile.

"We won’t be around for too long, we’ll be leaving first thing in the morning...."

Hearing they would leave by morning, Ma Hechang sighed in relief.

Although he was unsure why the mutants had suddenly gone berserk and attacked here, he felt instinctively it was related to these people.

After all, they had joined the Torch Church, meaning the Qi Tribe were technically their allies.

Clearly, these outsiders had angered those mutants, otherwise, he couldn’t think of any other reason why the mutants would attack their own people.

First it was the Iron Tower, and now an Alliance. These people seemed possessed... Why must they provoke the mutants?

They could have reached an agreement like civilized people.

He wished they would be polite and not bring their personal disputes here.

Though that’s what he thought, he put on a hospitable and regretful expression, saying insincerely,

"If there’s anything you need, please let us know."

"I will..." Old White nodded, then seemed to remember something, and continued, "Right, could you take me to visit the pastor in town?"

Ma Hechang was momentarily stunned.

"Do you mean...?"

"I heard there’s a chapel of the Torch Church here," said Old White, getting straight to the point.

Ma Hechang’s face lit up with understanding, and he nodded quickly.

"Sure, I’ll take you there."

...

The town was silent.

After dealing with the mutants, many commercial teams had dismantled the barriers erected at their entrances and, without a word, took their people to run north, fearing another night here might bring the mutants back.

The town’s militia couldn’t detain them and just watched them go far away.

After this incident, some of them might never return here. But compared to the future, people were more concerned about the present.

Why had the mutants come back?

After suffering such a loss, could they come back to attack again...

It wasn’t just the outsiders.

Some locals born and raised here were also hesitating, wondering whether to pack up and leave this troubled spot for good.

Inside the town, the players split into two groups.

Fang Chang and Falling Feather went to the inn to meet with the leader of the firm Pine Nut Farm’s commercial team, hoping to find a way to infiltrate the farm.

Meanwhile, Old White and Night Ten, with Wild Wind and others, followed the mayor to the Torch Church.

The chapel was located at the town center, a pointed-roof building covered with a layer of tiles. It wasn’t majestic, but neither was it shabby.

Above the main gate was carved the emblem of the Torch Church—two inverted triangles forming a torch.

Seeing the man in the power armor thoughtfully examine the symbol, Ma Hechang coughed lightly and said,

"This is the chapel we built for the Saint Heir... it was just completed recently."

Old White casually remarked,

"It seems you hold that Saint in high regard."

Laughing, Ma Hechang said,

"Of course, he truly brought us blessings."

"In what ways?"

"In what ways? There are simply too many..." Ma Hechang paused, then started listing like an expert, "Take Nago for instance. Before, there were fights every other day, those herdsmen, sowers, lumberjacks, hunters, everyone was like gunpowder, but ever since we planted the emerald tree in town, those troubles are gone. Those manual laborers became as docile as sheep, finally behaving as they should."

Old White curiously asked.

"Do you eat that stuff too?"

"Of course," Ma Hechang smiled and continued, "I had a severe cold before, but I got better after eating Nago."

Old White inquired confusedly,

"Why aren’t you like them then?"

He knew that the Holy Water could exempt one from the negative effects of "God’s state," but one couldn’t take injections every day, could they?

Moreover, Holy Water merely exempted one from the negatives, not from entering the "God’s state" itself; immersing in the blissful illusion was not a good thing.

Feelings of pleasure from pain, following others’ voices obediently... these effects couldn’t be eliminated by Holy Water.

Ma Hechang apologized with an embarrassed smile and explained,

"That’s because of the Saint Heir’s gospel... By just donating a little tax, we can preserve our true selves within his gospel. Simply put, it avoids entering the God’s state."

Seeing the man’s confused face, Ma Hechang took out a small medicine bottle.

"This is it, its name is ’Gospel’; just take one pill each morning, and that’s enough. It’s like a mild Holy Water, not so intense, just right to keep one healthy and awake."

Staring at the small medicine bottle for a while, Old White asked with interest,

"How is this sold?"

Ma Hechang hurriedly said,

"This isn’t for sale; it’s a grace for the devout. As long as you follow the will of the Saint Heir, you will be under the care of the Gospel..."

"What is his will?"

"To build a church that spreads the faith for the Saint Heir, and then periodically donate a modest sum to support the clergy."

The so-called modest sum here probably meant it was modest for the wealthy and powerful; clearly, the "Gospel" had a cost and wasn’t cheap enough for everyone to afford.

But where was this stuff created from?

Vaguely thinking of something, Old White took out ten silver coins from his pocket and placed them in the hands of the mayor.

"Could I have one piece?"

The mayor hesitated for a moment, but seeing the weapons in these people’s hands, he nodded obediently and carefully handed a pill to Old White.

"... Strictly speaking, we shouldn’t give it to those outside the faithful, but Mr. Apostle didn’t say what would happen if we did."

"Thanks," Old White smiled faintly and handed the pill to Night Ten, who put it into a tactical backpack.

This was valuable research material.

The lady at the Biological Institute would probably be interested.

Walking to the church’s entrance, Mayor Ma didn’t knock but pushed the wooden door open.

A pastor in a grey robe stood behind the wooden lectern, mumbling a prayer.

Hearing the door open, he immediately looked up, alarmed, but relaxed when he saw it wasn’t mutants breaking in.

"That... Mr. Wei, the crisis outside has been resolved! I forgot to tell you earlier, sorry."

Seeing the middle-aged pastor staring straight at him, Mayor Ma coughed and forcefully hinted with his eyes, then continued,

"... These friends who have come from afar are very interested in our faith, please help them understand."

Old White noted that although Mayor Ma seemed devout when speaking of the Saint Heir, he did not seem very respectful to this servant of the church.

That respectful-sounding sentence was more commanding in nature.

It was likely due to his recent conversion, while this pastor was a local from the town.

Staring into the pastor’s eyes, Old White smiled and asked,

"Sorry for disturbing, is it alright if we sit here?"

The middle-aged pastor said nervously,

"Please do."

Old White nodded, sat down on the front pew, and then turned to look at Mayor Ma.

"We would like to have a private word with him."

Understanding the underlying meaning of those words, the mayor immediately chuckled,

"Sure! I’ll be busy with other things."

Saying that, he turned and left the church, kindly closing the door behind him.

The church quieted down.

With multiple pairs of eyes watching him, the pastor swallowed nervously and said,

"My name is Wei Ming, the pastor here. What would you like to know?"

He had the gut feeling that these people didn’t like him.

In their eyes,

"Are you from this town?"

The pastor named Wei Ming nodded nervously.

"Yes..."

Old White continued to ask,

"How did you meet Zhang Zhengyang?"

The interrogative tone made Wei Ming feel slightly displeased, but he dared not express any complaints against these tough individuals.

Their exoskeletons still had meat and blood on them, a fearsome blood-red smear, intimidating enough without them uttering a word.

Swallowing nervously, he replied,

"... Two years ago, that Apostle came here, and that was when I met him."

Having heard about this from the Iron Tower Organization, Old White wasn’t surprised and continued to question,

"Was Nago also brought here at that time?"

Wei Ming nodded.

"Yes... but things were different back then, the initial Nago wasn’t mature and only grew in hot environments. I heard that it’s a tropical crop introduced from a few small islands in the south."

Brocade River Province, although relatively south compared to River Valley Province, was far from tropical—it was just on the edge of the subtropical zone.

Even during a cold winter, it still snowed.

Old White asked frowning,

"Did they improve the crop?"

"Uh..." Wei Ming nodded slightly, glancing towards the backyard direction, "Back then, there was no church here, just a warehouse. That apostle rented some land in town and hired some people to help him test those special crops."

Old White stared at him and asked,

"Why did he seek your help?"

Wei Ming responded truthfully,

"I was a town doctor... I had a slight understanding of biology. He told me that if his plan went well, there wouldn’t be a need for clinics anymore. If I was willing to help him, he could offer me a higher payment."

"Were there others besides you?"

"Yes."

Old White immediately asked,

"Are they still in town?"

Wei Ming smiled bitterly and shook his head,

"Those people were serfs bought from nearby farms. Frankly speaking, they were both laborers and experimental subjects. The apostle would have them eat the Nago he grew, and besides preaching, my job was to record their clinical responses... After the first experiment concluded, I never saw those people again, but I could guess where they went."

Old White: "Where did they go?"

Wei Ming stayed silent for a while,

"I don’t have evidence... but I feel that they were probably sent to the mutants."

Old White was taken aback,

"Sent to the mutants?"

A bitter expression appeared on Wei Ming’s face as he shook his head,

"There was no helping it; they were no longer fit. The Nago back then couldn’t survive the winter, a whole winter of withdrawal reactions without enough antibiotics to help those people get through... The apostle said he ’dealt with them’, but I think it wasn’t just a simple disposal. Those people had business dealings with the mutants a long time ago, I even heard—"

Seeing Wei Ming abruptly stop, Old White immediately asked,

"Heard what?"

After a moment of silence, Wei Ming slowly began,

"I heard that they would buy slaves from nearby farms with Dinar or Cr and send them to the mutant tribe in the city sector... It seems they had struck some kind of deal; the mutants would work for The Church and ensure the district’s safety, but in return, The Church had to regularly provide them with people."

Night Ten couldn’t help but curse under his breath,

"These scumbags."

Wei Ming didn’t understand what he was saying, but he could feel the anger in the tone and involuntarily shrank his neck,

Old White stared into his eyes,

"You’re a doctor... you should have seen what that thing called Nago would do to you."

Wei Ming’s Adam’s apple moved, and he smiled bitterly,

"My lord... destruction is inevitable for us living in the Wasteland, it’s just a matter of today or tomorrow."

Old White fell silent,

He suddenly felt a bit of sympathy for this guy.

Just then, Wild Wind suddenly spoke up,

"This doesn’t make sense... You mean to say the mutants in the city spared you because of a deal with the Torch Church, but why have I heard that centuries ago, they seldom harassed the nearby villages?"

Wei Ming sighed and said,

"That isn’t really contradictory. A century ago... or even up until twenty years ago when I was young, the ’Qi’ tribe was fairly restrained towards us. Becoming aggressive is a recent development."

Night Ten: "Why?"

"I also heard this from my grandfather," Seeing everyone around attentively listening, Wei Ming slowly started, "A long, long time ago, Brocade River City hosted a settlement not much inferior to Giant Stone City, perhaps even larger with a few hundred thousand people..."

His eyes seemed lost in recollection; he pondered for a moment before continuing,

"Back then, it was managed by the Post-War Reconstruction Committee, and that settlement was apparently called Singular Point City, if I remember right."

"Then around fifty years into the Wasteland Era, roughly a century and a half ago, some conflicts broke out within that committee... it was about split."

Old White nodded,

"I heard about that too, around fifty years into the Wasteland Era, the Post-War Reconstruction Committee officially declared its dissolution."

Wei Ming was taken aback,

"Was there such a thing? Well, it doesn’t matter now, I heard the committee was essentially defunct long before that, but that’s not the point... The key was that at that time, a group of green-skinned folks came running over from the east."

"Those people claimed to be researchers from a facility, from the East Coast, persecuted by the Production Department. To preserve their research and escape the persecution, they had no choice but to turn themselves into those grotesque figures."

Hearing this, Night Ten was genuinely shocked,

"Wow... the ancestors of the mutants?!"

Wei Ming nodded,

"Pretty much. The earliest mutants, according to the rumors, came about this way... from humans. These folks were fundamentally still human, naturally they wouldn’t eat people, even more polite than most, and got along quite well with the residents of Singular Point City."

Night Ten struggled to squeeze out the words,

"But why..."

"Why have they started eating people now, right?" Wei Ming’s face was filled with mixed emotions, "Honestly, I don’t know; these are just the things I heard from my grandfather..."

"But if I were to guess."

He swallowed, speaking in an uncertain voice,

"Perhaps... the earliest mutants still considered themselves human, but their children might not think the same."

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