This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 641 Beta 0.6 Version! Sub-entity Breeding System!

Chapter 641: Chapter 641 Beta 0.6 Version! Sub-entity Breeding System!

The long night had finally passed.

As the misty white light hovered in the distant sky and the first ray of sunlight poured onto the smoke-filled street, Bit, sitting behind the sandbag wall, finally set aside the heavy burden in his heart and relaxed his tense shoulders that had been tight all night.

Two hours ago, sporadic Eaters were still wandering toward their position, but now the whole area was dead silent, not even the sound of a single gunshot could be heard.

Gradually, the sound of snoring, loud as thunder, came from the machine gun post nearby, and some soldiers, worn out by fatigue, even fell asleep with their eyes open.

This was their first time on the battlefield.

Bit found it a little hard to believe as he glanced at his own right hand and then looked at the bloodied battlefield around him, his heart filled with unspeakable emotions.

They...

had actually survived!

It was unbelievable.

At that moment, the creaking sound of boots on concrete came from behind.

Startled and becoming instantly alert, Bit picked up a stone from the ground and threw it at a nearby comrade, trying to wake him up.

Those regular army guys had always looked down on them, the criminally charged. If the Supervisory team found them sleeping on their watch, he couldn’t say what might happen.

Even if they were shot dead on the spot, no one would sympathize with them.

The stone hit the sleeping brother’s head precisely, but the guy slept so deeply that he didn’t wake up, and his snoring grew even louder.

Just as Bit was getting anxious about what to do next, a hoarse voice came from behind.

"Let him sleep for a while."

Watching the Supervision Officer walk up to the shooting cover, Bit’s Adam’s apple moved, he didn’t dare to speak but expressed his thanks with his eyes.

The Supervision Officer didn’t mind, and took out a box of cigarettes from his coat, shaking two out—one he put in his mouth and the other he handed to Bit.

"Smoke?"

Bit looked at the cigarette handed to him, bewildered, but still instinctively reached out to take it.

"Thanks... thank you."

"You’re welcome."

The Supervision Officer grinned at the corners of his mouth, took a match and lit the cigarette in his mouth, then casually handed the matchbox to Bit.

Watching the man whose hands trembled for a while before he could light the match, he turned his gaze toward the mountains of corpses and seas of bones in front of the position.

Blowing out a stream of blue smoke, he smoothed the wrinkles knitted between his brows and slowly began to speak.

"The Tide this year has ended."

"This war, we have won, and it’s a complete victory, there will be no more... no more Tides, or any other damned thing."

Bloodthirsty monsters, brutal Mutants, cannibalistic Looters, and gangs engaged in illegal activities under the giant walls...

They had completely driven all the evils born of the Wasteland out of Qingquan City, and today’s dawn marked an unprecedented new beginning.

Bit smoked silently, watching the drifting smoke, his mind a tangled mess.

Over the past three months, he had either been working in the mines or preparing for this war, with no spare time to think about the future.

Now that the war was over, he had to seriously consider the issue—what to do next.

It was then that he suddenly realized that he seemed incapable of anything; never having lived a single day in a normal society, he simply lacked the skills to make a living there.

And...

With the Tide ending so quickly this year, would the Alliance really fulfill their promises?

The thought made his heart flinch, and fingers holding the cigarette butt trembled uncontrollably.

Seeming to see through his thoughts, the Supervision Officer grinned and began to speak.

"Cheer up a bit, you didn’t run when facing the Tide, bravely fighting for your fellow comrades. You have proven that part of humanity within you. Compared to the Looters, you still have hope, worth us reaching out to help you."

He paused, then continued.

"The higher-ups sent me here to tell you two things about your future."

Upon hearing this, Bit hurriedly said,

"I’ll go call everyone over!"

The Supervision Officer reached out to stop Bit as he turned to leave, continuing to speak.

"No need to make it so complicated, I’ll tell you, then you can go and discuss with them and make a decision after you’ve thought it through."

"Okay... then go ahead."

Bit nodded, swallowing nervously, and listened attentively to the Supervision Officer.

The Supervision Officer continued.

"Your last task is to clear the bodies that are piling up like mountains on the streets, and to move them to a designated location before they decompose. This task will probably last about a week, and then you’ll be able to leave the punishment camp."

"Regarding where to go after leaving the punishment camp, my superior has given you two choices—either disband on the spot, return your guns to the organization, and then go wherever you want, whether it’s leaving the Alliance or reporting to the Home of the Refugees. The other option is to join the newly established Southern Construction Corps, go to Brocade River Province to clear and cultivate the land, and build your own home."

The former sounded somewhat easier.

Although he didn’t have the status of an Alliance citizen, the Alliance was not as exclusionary as Giant Stone City had been in the past. As long as he reported to the Home of the Refugees, learned a trade as a "supervised person," found a stable job in the industrial area, and obtained a tax ID, he could become a citizen of the Alliance before too long.

This was because he didn’t have any survival skills.

If he had survival skills, he could even skip the step of going to the Home of the Refugees, as long as a factory was willing to pay him a salary that met the tax threshold.

But if no factory wanted him...

Thinking of this, Bit’s heart tightened. If that were the case, he felt he might take risks again, retracing his old paths.

No—

That was almost certain to happen.

As if he had already seen his own future, Bit silently finished his cigarette, composed himself, and spoke to the Supervision Officer.

"I choose the latter."

It seemed the supervisor had guessed he would make such a choice.

The Supervision Officer smiled, finished his cigarette, stamped it out on the ground, and patted the young man’s shoulder.

"No matter what you choose, cherish the freedom that you’ve earned through great difficulty; it was bought with lives. Make sure you don’t end up back inside."

"Next time, you won’t be so lucky."

...

The cost of victory was tremendous.

The punishment camp’s numbers had been reduced by forty percent; when they had moved to the front lines, there were over five thousand people, but only just over three thousand survived the night.

It was not just the punishment camp.

The First Army Corps and the Militia Group likewise suffered significant casualties, though not as extreme as those used as Cannon Fodder.

As for the players,

As the vanguard of the Alliance, they were always in the most dangerous places, forever at the forefront of battle.

A total of nearly twenty thousand players participated in the fierce battle, with less than half surviving in the end.

For every survivor in Qingquan City, it was bound to be a sleepless night.

However, the heavy sacrifices they made resulted in a glorious victory.

After two centuries of decline, the unionized survivors finally vanquished the tide once believed to be invincible!

This was a hurdle that neither the Post-War Reconstruction Committee nor the ancient United Human had ever truly overcome!

They had achieved this impossible miracle with their own hands!

Upon hearing the news from the front lines, excitement filled the faces of everyone, whether they were residents of Giant Stone City, City of Dawn, Falling Leaves City, or Dawn City.

People celebrated by firing into the sky, drinking merrily, or embracing one another, expressing their joy in cheers and shouts.

When dawn dispersed the gloom, nearly everyone cheered for their hard-won victory!

And it wasn’t just the people!

Even the spore clouds lingering over the ruins seemed lighter than ever before.

Less than five kilometers from the giant wall, situated on the outskirts of the second ring, was a partially collapsed hospital where a thousand-strong team from the Giant Stone City Militia Group was stationed.

At this moment, the hospital’s underground parking was filled with crimson mucor.

That was the incubation room for mass producing spores and sub-entities.

Large numbers of Eaters and Crawlers originated here, surging towards the human civilization’s defenses like a tide.

Normally, to end this annual tide, these mutated incubation rooms needed to be completely destroyed.

But this year was a little different from previous years.

The lair in the city center had already been taken over by Xiaoyu, and the DNA related to the invasion had ceased transcription; no new Eaters or Crawlers would be emerging from the hatchery.

This was also the best proof that the Tide had ended, apart from the reduction in spore concentration.

Watching the swirling pale-red ocean, the deputy wearing heavy exoskeleton couldn’t help but click his tongue and say,

"This thing looks really terrifying."

For the past few decades, charging towards hatcheries had always been the work of mercenaries.

Although he had been part of the Militia Group for years, it was his first time witnessing a live hatchery outside of photos and holographic images.

And he wasn’t the only one.

The faces of other Militia Group officers were also filled with unease,

"Should we really keep this guy around?"

"What if one day it starts hatching those Eaters again?"

"I always feel like it wants to eat me!"

Everyone exchanged glances, whispering quietly among themselves.

Listening to his officers whispering, the Militia Group’s leader Joey coughed loudly, interrupting the increasingly absurd rumors.

Looking at the calmed crowd, he paused for a moment and said,

"The Manager’s idea is to establish an ’ecological zone’ near Shelter No.401 to relocate the hatcheries and sub-entities in the city. The survivors in the eastern district of Clear Spring City are relatively scarce, mostly dangerous Variants, making it a perfect pilot site."

Having never heard such a strange term, the deputy was stunned and asked,

"Ecological zone...what is that?"

Two hundred years ago, this term wouldn’t have been anything special, but in the Wasteland, it was certainly a advanced concept.

"It might be...a settlement where mucosal creatures and humans coexist harmoniously?"

Joey wasn’t too sure himself, trying to understand while simultaneously explaining to his perplexed comrades,

"Like people living inside mushrooms."

Clearly, his one-sided understanding not only failed to clarify the confusion, but also caused the opposite effect.

One of the officers was dumbfounded for a long while, then came to his senses, shaking his head with a wry smile,

"That’s too weird."

Another officer felt the same, looking at the crimson ocean nearby and swallowing hard, nodding in agreement,

"...I would never stay with that thing, don’t even think about it."

Joey shrugged,

"What are you talking about, the ecological zone is currently only open to residents of the refuge. You’d have to apply to even have a look inside... I think it doesn’t matter, as long as they don’t plant mushrooms on the Giant Wall. It’s good if it can control the annual Tide, or maybe you have a better idea?"

The officer awkwardly coughed,

"Of course, I unconditionally support the Manager’s decision..."

"So do I."

Joey nodded, his gaze drifting towards the gradually fading crimson fungus, and continued slowly,

"We have tried all possible methods, whether burning or using chemical agents... Even if their plan seems far-fetched, we only have to try it now."

His perspective was actually quite optimistic.

Not because of blind trust in the Manager himself, but because biotechnology was indeed a strong point of the Alliance, and that leader would definitely consult experts in the relevant fields when making decisions.

Given the current unity of the Alliance, there’s no reason for the experts to mislead him, they would likely earnestly provide the most appropriate advice.

Since so many people believed from their professional perspectives that there wasn’t much of an issue, Joey felt the ecological zone was something to look forward to.

After all, they didn’t have much to lose.

The worst case would be letting the Tide that had continued for two centuries persist.

But if it succeeded, they would pave an unprecedented path, which might become the key to ending the entire Wasteland...

At this moment, a soldier approached from a distance, stopping in front of Joey and performing a military salute,

"Report! A group of traders is approaching our established checkpoint. Their elected representative wishes to meet with you to discuss the cleanup of the mucosal sub-entity corpses."

During the usual period of the Tide, there would always be traders coming to the front lines to wholesale corpses—a long-standing tradition around Clear Spring City.

Although mucosal sub-entities couldn’t be eaten directly, they were still considered organic and could recoup some nutrients.

No matter whether they were processed into fertilizer or made into nutrient paste, those were excellent raw materials.

If left unattended for a long time, without allowing the Eaters to consume them or the hatcheries to recycle them, these bodies would soon become breeding grounds for bacteria, and could even potentially trigger a massive epidemic.

Therefore, Giant Stone City typically would pack these bodies and hand them over to the traders, meanwhile collecting some chips as a benefit.

However, this year was different from the past.

Before the Tide began, the Giant Stone City Militia Group had received instructions from the shelter, stating that from then on, the mucosal entities captured by the Alliance were no longer to be packaged and handled privately, but were to be collected and processed uniformly by the Alliance authorities.

Without any surprises, the remnants of those entities would be sent to the newly established ecological reserve for decomposition and used as construction materials.

Joey, looking at the soldier delivering the orders, commanded succinctly,

"Tell those traders that the remnants of the entities in this area have now been taken over by the Alliance authorities; the Alliance has better uses for them. If they are interested in the transportation work, they can contact the logistics department; if they are eyeing those entities and evolutionary bodies, they’d better give up early."

The soldier saluted, turned around, and returned to the entrance of the stationed area’s checkpoint, repeating the commander’s exact words to the traders gathered at the door.

After hearing the soldier’s words, the faces of the traders were all filled with astonishment, exchanging eyes with each other.

A better use?

Other than making nutrient paste and fertilizer, what else could those things be used for?

Almost everyone was completely baffled.

...

The traders from the Wasteland scratched their heads and couldn’t guess what the respected Manager had planned.

Just when everyone was puzzled, the "Wasteland OL" official website in another world suddenly updated an announcement.

[Wasteland OL Closed Beta Version Beta0.6 Update Announcement!]

[Major Updates:

1. The number of closed beta qualifications has increased from 30,000 to 50,000!

2. The Second Ring area of Qingquan City has been unblocked, adding a large number of yet-to-be-recovered explored ruins; tasks can be claimed from the scientific expedition team.

3. Addition of the "South Gate Two" star system and the Gaia World to the Game world! (Note: Although the map has been completed, the passage to the map is still under development, and players can explore the route on their own, more content is coming soon!)

4. New "Sub-entity Breeding" system!

5. Shelter B7 floor to be opened soon.

6. Fixed a few minor bugs.

...

]

["Sub-entity Breeding" System Introduction:

The lair in the center of Qingquan City has been occupied by us, and currently, all hatcheries across the city are under our control!

However, what troubles Xiaoyu is that it has never controlled so many sub-entities before, and these sub-entities designed for slaughter might inadvertently show naked hostility to other organisms like wild beasts.

To avoid waste of resources and also for everyone’s Xiaoyu, Shelter No. 404 is now recruiting volunteers!

Requirements: Intelligence attribute above 10, or those who have implanted bionic chips for enhanced brain computing!

Eligible players can apply in the game through the VM terminal to undergo "Control System" biological prosthetic surgery; passing the application means successful registration! The shelter will arrange for the biological prosthetic surgery for the player after they log off.

After the successful surgery, players will be able to establish a conscious connection between the "Control System" biological prosthetic and specific sub-entities, directing their actions as easily as controlling drones through a neural connection device.

Regular sub-entity adoption fees range from 100 to 10,000 silver coins, including Eaters, Crawlers, Butchers, Tyrants, among others.

In addition to regular sub-entities, players can also prepare synthetic materials and pay additional fees to adopt more powerful evolutionary bodies including the "Decaying Knight."

Even customize according to personal preference within the limits allowed by the gene bank!

The shelter system will calculate the fees required for customization considering multiple factors such as the function of the evolutionary body, the organic matter consumption required for production, and hatching time.

It’s important to note that the number of sub-entities a player can operate at once is related to their intelligence attribute; please consider the research staff’s recommendation and proceed according to your capacity.

Should the sub-entities become uncontrollable, all losses and consequences will be borne by the adopter!

]

Less than half a minute after the announcement was released—

The entire forum erupted!

—

(Thanks to "Makabakamo" for the two Alliance Leader rewards!!! Happy Lunar New Year, brothers!)