This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 647: Misunderstanding By Some Mistake

Chapter 647: Chapter 647: Misunderstanding By Some Mistake

"The buildings covered in "Mutated slime fungus," densely packed with mucosal entities, and the active incubation rooms... everything you see is the current situation in the East District of Qingquan City."

"The Tide has ended, but no one knew how it had ended until our reporters ventured into the East District of Qingquan City and unveiled the unknown truth!"

The entire newspaper spanned only three pages, and Chu Guang quickly scanned those pages, finding that all three were about the outskirts of Qingquan City.

The first part revealed the whereabouts of the mucosal entities. A large amount of these entities had not been destroyed but transferred to the outskirts of Qingquan City’s East District.

There was nothing wrong with this segment.

After dealing with this year’s Tide, the Alliance had indeed transferred the mucosal entities to the East District of Qingquan City, instead of packaging and selling them to nearby merchants as in previous years.

Chu Guang clearly remembered; it was a directive he had personally issued.

However, the content gradually became suspicious in the second part.

This section cleverly pointed an accusing finger at the Alliance authorities, using vague evidence and so-called informant news to fabricate that the Alliance had used some unknown methods to make deals with the lair in the center of Qingquan City, thereby directing the mucosal entities to work for the Alliance.

In the third part, the report shifted its focus to the "survivors" in the East District of Qingquan City.

A few survivors, during the interviews, alleged that the Alliance’s army had driven them from their homes, and threatened that if they did not comply, the mucosal entities would devour them.

In reality, except for a few reclusive survivors, the majority of Qingquan City’s survivors had moved into the City of Dawn or Giant Stone City during the Bone Chewing Chaos.

Solitary survivors wandering the Wastelands around Qingquan City were already very rare, let alone in the East District rife with Variants.

Those survivors were likely not real survivors but rather Looters hidden in ruins or possibly mercenaries hired outright.

At the end of the report, the writer left a significant remark.

"The bomb was not disassembled but was transferred from one box to another; it’s right beside us and could explode at any time, maybe today, maybe tomorrow. A victory obtained through compromise is not a true victory, and if we do not thoroughly eliminate all the "Mutated slime fungus," this war will never end..."

After reading the newspaper to the end, Chu Guang flipped back to the first page and glanced at the header.

As he expected, this was the first issue of the Clear Spring City Daily.

It seemed like the entire newspaper was established just for this major news item, banking on this sensational story to break into the market.

Watching Chu Guang’s expressions intently, Old Charlie continued with a serious tone.

"This morning, I found this newspaper at a newsstand near the Merchant Guild. I asked the vendor where he got the newspapers from, and he scratched his head, telling me he didn’t remember procuring this particular newspaper."

Pausing for a moment, Old Charlie continued.

"Later, I had workers from the Merchant Guild inquire at various newsstands in the City of Dawn, and found that over eighty percent of them were selling this mysterious Clear Spring City Daily, and the vendors couldn’t clarify the origin of these newspapers...it was as though they had magically appeared at their stands."

Chu Guang chuckled and said,

"That’s not surprising. Besides the highest-selling Survivor’s Daily that has its own distributors, most newsstands in the City of Dawn have contracts with printing presses. The presses print newspapers based on the sales at each point from the previous day, and the papers are delivered to the stands before the morning rush. Perhaps someone sneaked this batch of newspapers onto the print shop’s delivery trucks, naturally distributing them to various points."

In this distribution model, it was natural that the stand owners were unaware of this newspaper.

In fact, aside from the well-known Survivor’s Daily and serialized novels, they probably didn’t even know how many kinds of newspapers there were at their stands.

This three-page newspaper had evidently made its first appearance in the alleys and streets of the City of Dawn, like fungus growing in a dark corner.

Chu Guang could almost guess their purpose.

It was nothing more than an attempt to exploit public panic to hinder the ecological reserve that the Alliance had set up in the East District of Qingquan City.

As for the deeper motives, the possibilities were far more extensive.

He was also a little curious about what was worth making such a hefty investment and taking the risk of infuriating the Alliance.

Seeing Chu Guang’s nonchalant smile, Old Charlie couldn’t fathom it. He couldn’t understand why, with such a serious issue at hand, the respected Manager still managed to smile.

Worried that Chu Guang hadn’t grasped the gravity of the situation, Old Charlie became a bit anxious and spoke earnestly.

"Mr. Manager, you may not yet realize the seriousness of this matter. Our enemies are trying to use the media to break our unity. Moreover, the celebration is just around the corner. If anything chaotic happens now, not only will your prestige be affected, but the entire Alliance’s regional prestige and influence will also suffer!"

He paused briefly, then continued seriously.

"We must act immediately! At the very least, we need to recall the newspapers that are currently being sold on the market before the public opinion ferments!"

Chu Guang casually asked,

"And after recalling them?"

Old Charlie was slightly taken aback but quickly thought of a plan.

"We should establish a stricter publication review mechanism to prevent similar incidents from happening again and find the mastermind behind this, especially the distributor of the Clear Spring City Daily—"

Chu Guang shook his head with a smile.

He closed the copy of the Clear Spring City Daily in his hands and casually handed it back to Old Charlie.

"I get your point. The mastermind behind this is smart, but unfortunately, their methods aren’t sophisticated.

"They’ve underestimated the unity among our society’s various strata and the trust in us from the residents here after a victory. They even made more than one basic mistake during their interviews. Such tactics might have worked in the old Giant Stone City, but applied to us, they only become a joke themselves."

"Our supporters aren’t so easily fooled. What we need to do now is to stabilize our position and not get flustered by the opponent’s clumsy tricks. If we really make a big effort to recall the newspapers as you said, it might actually shake the confidence of those who support us... The one hiding in the shadows would only be happy."

At this point, Chu Guang couldn’t help but criticize his own Survivor’s Daily.

Those guys are usually quite savvy, especially during last year’s turmoil in Giant Stone City.

However, this time they were like blindfolded, a huge incident had happened in the East District of Qingquan City, yet they didn’t report a single word!

Chu Guang initially thought that the report was not yet written, but two days had passed, and they not only hadn’t produced anything but also let an unknown small newspaper scoop them.

As a semi-official media outlet, using objective and impartial reporting to respond to public doubts is what they should do; otherwise, what use are they?

Are they just a decorative vase?

Chu Guang didn’t believe that his residents only cared about the delicacies at the festival and were utterly unconcerned about Qingquan City Center and the East District’s ecological reserve.

Most likely, it was out of trust in him personally, believing that he surely had a solution, so no one raised the issue.

Failing to respond to the Alliance residents’ doubts promptly, Survivor’s Daily would definitely bear the brunt of blame.

Chu Guang planned to have a talk with the chief editor later to ask what he was thinking.

Of course.

That out-of-nowhere Clear Spring City Daily couldn’t just be ignored and allowed to spew nonsense.

Chu Guang turned to Lu Bei, who was beside him, and instructed,

"The photos must have been taken yesterday. Go to the troops stationed locally and ask who approached the East District of Qingquan City yesterday, what their identities are... Just get clear information for now, no need to take action yet."

It was inevitable that the ecological reserve in the East District of Qingquan City would catch the attention of other survivor forces, and maybe even spies from the Army had infiltrated the City of Dawn.

But those folks were clever, merely observing in secret without rashly making any moves that might expose themselves.

Chu Guang was curious about who the uncomfortable instigator might be.

This matter had to be thoroughly investigated!

Upon hearing this, Lu Bei’s expression turned solemn, and he promptly gave a military salute.

"Yes!"

...

Compared to the research cooperation agreement between the Alliance and the Academy, a fabricated report was nothing more than a trivial matter.

Although Old Charlie looked as if he was facing a great enemy, Chu Guang honestly didn’t take it to heart.

To put it bluntly.

He simply didn’t believe anyone would believe that stuff.

Anyone who had stayed in the City of Dawn knew what the East District of Qingquan City was really like – apart from players, basically no one was willing to go there.

Survivors forced to leave their homes...

That sounded too far-fetched.

After explaining everything to Lu Bei, Chu Guang returned to the refuge to discuss with Yin Fang about establishing a special zone in the Wandering Swamp and academic exchanges.

However, Chu Guang didn’t know that as Lu Bei left for the East District of Qingquan City with his orders, that fabricated report had appeared on the desk of the Corporate Embassy in the Alliance.

Looking at the "sensational" content in the newspaper, Yi Chuan couldn’t help but widen his eyes, stunned for a good while before he came back to his senses.

"... The Lair previously located in the city center was relocated to the East District of Qingquan City by the Alliance Managers for captive breeding, and through evil powers, its mucosal entities are used for their own purposes?"

His lips twitched slightly, and after reading that line, he could no longer maintain his composure and shook his head, tossing the nonsense onto the desk.

"What the hell is this written?"

Captive breeding the Lair?

He didn’t even know that their partners were capable of this!

Ever since the Tide began, the corporation had always been monitoring the progress of the Tide.

This wasn’t just because the Alliance had a significant role in the corporate strategic layout, but also because the "Mutated slime fungus" itself was one of the core threats on the Wasteland.

Now that the Alliance had completely solved a problem that even the Post-War Reconstruction Committee couldn’t handle, the entire board couldn’t help but reassess the Alliance.

However, regarding how the Alliance resolved the Tide crisis, how they eliminated the Lair in the city center, and how they ensured the Lair wouldn’t regenerate as before, among other questions, the board still held considerable doubts, hoping to get answers through diplomatic means.

Especially since the board recently planned to cooperate more deeply with the Alliance on matters related to "Mutated slime fungus," some radical members even suggested outsourcing the cleaning task of the Lair in Province of Yúnjiānxíng to the Alliance.

To provide the board with more information, Yi Chuan, as the Corporate Ambassador to the Alliance, ordered his secretary to go out and buy some newspapers.

The guy took half a day and just brought back a few pieces of this deceptive crap.

Looking at the secretary standing beside his desk, Yi Chuan massaged his temples with a pained expression and said,

"I asked you to purchase some newspapers reporting on the East District of Qingquan City, why did you bring back these things?"

The secretary looked a bit embarrassed.

He too believed that the contents of the newspaper were exaggerated, from the headlines to the content, but he still wanted to defend himself, so he cleared his throat lightly and said,

"Regarding reports about the East District of Qingquan City and the location of the Lair, this is the only newspaper available... Other newspapers referring to news about the Tide and the Lair basically cite reports from Survivor’s Daily."

Yi Chuan was taken aback.

"What about the Survivor’s Daily?"

The secretary continued with a nuanced expression.

"The latest issue of Survivor’s Daily focuses mainly on the upcoming celebration and doesn’t mention details of the Alliance’s role in the previous Tide Battle, nor does it mention the East District ecological reserve. It seems that such news has been censored; I suspect that official pressure from the Alliance prompted Survivor’s Daily to downplay this news... perhaps for security reasons."

Security?

After listening to his explanation, Yi Chuan’s face looked even more perplexed.

What needed to be kept secret?

If the Alliance really had a way to counteract "Mutated slime fungus," every survivor force on the Wasteland would come to learn from them, and even the Army might lower their proud heads... since this was a matter that concerned the future of all humanity.

Shouldn’t this kind of thing be openly flaunted?

The secretary continued with a subtle expression.

"Could there be a possibility... that the situation is as described in the report, just not so exaggerated? And maybe this newspaper is actually intentionally released by the Alliance?"

Yi Chuan didn’t immediately refute.

He tapped lightly on the table with his index finger, pondered for a moment, and said,

"What’s the basis for this speculation?"

The secretary methodically analyzed,

"At the moment, the entire East District of Qingquan City is under military control of the Alliance, any survivors approaching are driven away; ordinary people couldn’t possibly take such clear photos... even if they could, it wouldn’t be possible to bring them out."

That argument made sense.

Yi Chuan nodded.

Although he hadn’t visited the East District of Qingquan City, the embassy had received the military control notification documents.

But this was merely a feasibility speculation.

"What’s the motive?" Yi Chuan looked at his secretary, "What benefit is there for them to do this?"

Secretary: "Desensitization."

Yi Chuan was taken aback.

"Desensitization?"

The secretary nodded, continuing,

"On some sensitive issues, first throw out a piece of incredible news, shock everyone, and then clarify that things are not as exaggerated."

A gleam of shrewdness flashed in Yi Chuan’s eyes.

"Opening a window first by claiming that they’ll blow off the roof?"

"Exactly," the secretary nodded, "I speculate that they must possess some sort of technology to control the Lair... and it’s likely not as simple as mere mind control, which we’ve tested to be ineffective on ’Mutated slime fungus.’"

Seeing Yi Chuan’s expression grow increasingly serious, the secretary paused, then continued,

"Moreover, since the Alliance authority chose to handle this news by desensitization, it shows that they are prepared to go public, otherwise this smokescreen seems somewhat redundant."

"Therefore, I speculate that they might also be using this opportunity to signal their willingness for cooperation."

"Additionally, I’ve heard... a representative from the Academy appeared near the Alliance Building today, that B-level researcher who’s always lurking around."

Upon hearing this, Yi Chuan immediately pushed back his chair and stood up, his right hand slapping down on the newspaper he had previously tossed on the table.

"Have a diplomatic meeting request sent to the Alliance, I want to talk to their Manager in person about this matter."

The secretary nodded.

"I will go right away!"