This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 699: Respected Mister Manager, by the time you receive this report, the battle will have concluded.

Chapter 699: Chapter 699: Respected Mister Manager, by the time you receive this report, the battle will have concluded.

Just as Killer Dagger had anticipated, by the time they had launched their second round of attack, Chu Guang in Shelter No. 404 had already received the battle report from the frontlines.

Moreover, the report of the expedition and the victory message from the frontline arrived simultaneously.

Fang Chang, that slippery fellow, had sent the first report via the Double-headed Cow airship, while the latter came through the official online task system.

Looking at the two reports that unfolded before him, Chu Guang smiled and shook his head.

"These guys really treat me like an NPC, huh."

But it wasn’t surprising.

He had kept his cover well; players did not know that besides being a Manager, he also held the role of the "Dog Planner."

In other words, he knew everything before this report arrived; he just chose not to stop them.

For one thing, the players hadn’t broken any server rules; he never required all players to be martyrs, only that they keep a sense of proportion in their actions.

Secondly, the envoy from the West Xilan Empire was indeed annoying, always squabbling with him at the Sticky Community conferences. Giving them a rap on the knuckles was also good.

As for the third reason, it was the West Xilan Empire that had made the first move.

The Alliance rarely initiated conflict, but no settlement had been without bloodshed, even voluntarily joined cities like Giant Stone City.

If someone wanted to test the strength of their fists, then so be it.

[Report NO.1: The Imperial Army of West Xilan Empire brazenly stepped into our alert zone without revealing their identity and opened fire on us, intending to create a massacre. We have counter-attacked the initiating port, Jinjialun Harbor!]

[Report NO.2: Our force of over five hundred successfully landed at Jinjialun Harbor and has now crushed the Jinjialun Port City Defense Army, capturing the governor of Jinjialun Harbor!]

Chu Guang wasn’t too concerned about the first report, which he had already seen, so he directly clicked on the attachment of the second report.

He was surprised to find that Brother Fang Chang had not only counted the battle’s KD and ammo expenditure but even tallied the spoils of war for him.

Although it seemed a bit like bullying kids, this battle could truly be described as an epic victory.

The Alliance Army lost a total of 11 sets of Type Five Light Cavalry and one set of Type 6 Heavy Cavalry exoskeletons; light injuries among the players were not counted, with no combat or non-combat casualties.

As for the Jinjialun Port City Defense Army, they had counted 1,407 bodies and 316 wounded. Although they had not captured the highest commander, its organizational structure was completely obliterated in battle.

Meanwhile, those stationed in the port area took just one morning to take over the port guard and temporarily formed an armed militia of about five thousand, composed of liberated slaves.

Currently, this militia is stationed at Lowell Camp, along with the freed slaves, and players such as Killer Dagger are responsible for drilling them.

The actual controlled area of the Burning Corps only accounted for one-tenth or even less of Jinjialun Harbor, but this less than one-tenth of the city’s area accounted for over ninety percent of the total economy of the settlement.

Moreover, besides the direct results of the battle, the spoils of war collected were quite significant.

The treasury of the Jinjialun Harbor Bank, located on Tulip No. 1 Street, contains nearly five hundred million dinars in foreign currency!

This money was mainly earned through populations, livestock, spices, textiles, and the sale of basic resources, with a large part of it deposited in the emperor’s name and managed by the governor appointed by the emperor.

In addition, there were thirty million silver coins and nine million CR, as well as a number of Golden Camels and Golden Lion Coins. The former was probably earned from exporting Double-headed Cows and minerals; the latter also seemed to be similar due to its low circulation rate, the reserves are not much.

However, even so, this foreign exchange reserve was quite terrifying. If the bank of Giant Stone City had had this much money, it wouldn’t have gone bankrupt.

But what surprised Chu Guang even more was yet to come.

On paper alone, there were a whopping 120 billion West Wind coins!

And they were all in cash!

The figure was so astronomical that at first he thought he had gotten the zeros wrong, until he had checked several times to make sure he was not mistaken.

According to the players’ investigations, ten thousand West Wind coins could buy a pig, indicating that the currency did have purchasing power.

Given so many points of contention, Chu Guang didn’t know where to begin expressing his concerns.

Perhaps the credit services of Jin Jialun Port Bank could explain this bizarre economic phenomenon, but Fang Chang hadn’t had the chance to sort through the bank’s operations.

Clearly, the players were only interested in the money in the treasury.

At the end of the report, Fang Chang made a summary.

[...We unanimously believe that unless the current situation in Jin Jialun Harbor is fundamentally changed, and slavery and the royal authority in the locality are completely abolished, similar Looter attacks will not cease at their roots. Therefore, our strategic goal, besides prosecuting the principal culprits, also includes the Alliance-led reform of the region.]

Seeing the end, Chu Guang couldn’t help but smile.

Perhaps catching the smile on his face, Xiao Qi sitting atop the pen holder showed a pleasant smile as well and nodded her little head in praise.

"It seems your little players have grown up," Chu Guang said with a light laugh.

"Is that so?"

"Um?" Feeling the depth behind Chu Guang’s words, Xiao Qi couldn’t help but tilt her head and look at him.

Chu Guang pondered for a moment, then spoke in a very soft voice.

"I don’t have much hope that they will achieve all their strategic objectives. I’ve never tried to implement Alliance strategies completely in Luo Xia Province, because our methods don’t have a broad mass base there. Ending the Wasteland is a natural duty for every resident of the refuge, but we must also respect the wishes of the people living on the Wasteland."

The premise of unity is respect, and equality imposed by force is another form of oppression.

Since the Alliance aims to follow a path of unity, it is bound not to bring everyone into the new era but to move forward with only those who are willing.

Even if one day they fully reclaim the territory once belonging to the United Human, many will inevitably maintain the lifestyle of the old era.

Unlike the old days, people had no choice then and could only passively accept their unequal fates, but in this new era, everyone will have the right to choose and refuse.

Just like the survivors of Singular Point City, as long as they promise never to return, they can leave the "rehab center" run by the AI anytime they wish.

Chu Guang wasn’t very optimistic about the actions of the Burning Corps in Poluo Province; they had, to some extent, made the mistake that most refuges once made—trying to read atheist scriptures to a bunch of folks with the Great Antler God in their hearts and trying to build a skyscraper on ground without foundations.

They hadn’t really made those slaves stand up; the so-called mobilization resembled more of a disguised "pyramid scheme", and the "Avengers Alliance" they had formed exuded a strong scent of revolt right from its name.

This was uprising.

A group of slaves, who lived under oppression every day, suddenly got their hands on fire sticks capable of killing their masters—and these fire sticks were given by "gods".

They didn’t die for ideals but for new "gods".

What they sought to end was not the rules that enslaved them but to viciously reclaim what they had lost from others.

If not controlled in the end, the victims would quickly shift from the guards of Lowell Camp to the slightly higher societal class surrounding them.

In fact, he harbored reservations about the players’ ability to rein in this wild horse that had broken free.

After pausing for a moment, Chu Guang looked at the puzzled Xiao Qi and continued in a gentle tone.

"Of course, I don’t rule out that the true intentions of my adorable little players might not completely align with their proclaimed goals."

Xiao Qi looked at Chu Guang in surprise.

"Are you saying your players are deceiving you?"

"That’s not deception, that’s drawing pies in the sky," Chu Guang said with a faint smile, "We claim to build an Ideal City on the northern outskirts of Qingquan City. We lead people to do this, and even though we haven’t achieved it yet, we at least now have the City of Dawn. If I hadn’t painted that pie, there would be nothing here. Just keeping the survivors alive, a bowl of porridge made from green wheat would be enough."

Standing up upon command, they didn’t have the luxury of time to start slowly like they did in Qingquan City by starting with night literacy classes.

Strictly speaking about the results, they might well establish a form of equality at the settlement, or at least establish a vassal that must rely on the Alliance.

In a sense, they had indeed become a group of mature little players.

They had learned to deal with their NPC selves and outsiders in their own ways.

After thinking it over, Chu Guang extended his index finger toward the holographic screen and smiled as he made annotations on the report.

"... Permit limited military operations at Jin Galun Harbor, and remember not to escalate military conflicts on your own, do not make the same mistakes as the Army."

Chu Guang thought for a moment, preparing to write a third warning when the third report appeared in his backend email.

This report was submitted via the official web task system’s information submission interface.

[Report NO.3: Lowell Camp Investigation Report (Part I)]

Chu Guang clicked to open the report and glanced at the summary then suddenly laughed and shook his head.

These guys really knew how to stack their BUFFs.

Quite interesting.

Guessing that the second half of the report, complete with pictures and text, would likely be delivered via the Double-headed Cow, Chu Guang set the report aside in his memo for now.

Moreover, regarding the first report that he had not opened, Duke Garava, "residing" in the City of Dawn, might be interested.

After mulling it over for a moment, Chu Guang looked at Xiao Qi and instructed her.

"Contact Alliance Foreign Minister Cheng Yan for me. Have him wait for me at my office in the Alliance Building, I’ll be there in about half an hour."

Hearing that she had been assigned a task, Xiao Qi, who had been sitting with her hands supporting her cheeks and swinging her legs, suddenly perked up, puffing out her chest and saluting in the Alliance military style.

"Received!"

...

The next morning at dawn, at an inn not far from the Army’s station on the outskirts of the City of Dawn.

Duke Garava was enjoying his breakfast while taking the freshly printed Survivor’s Daily from the hands of his lowly yet loyal Mouse Tribe servant, Niyan.

Ever since receiving Captain Archim’s telegram, he had woken up earlier than the chickens every day, just to see the headlines of the Survivor’s Daily before anyone else.

In the past few days, the team led by Centurion Di Rang should have already arrived at Potato Harbor.

Without any surprises, the airship that docked at the City of Dawn skyport last night should have brought the tragic news from Potato Harbor.

If the journalists of the Survivor’s Daily were quick enough, the Potato Harbor tragedy should have already made the headlines of the Survivor’s Daily.

In fact, more than the headline of the Survivor’s Daily, he was actually more curious about how frightened the survivors of the City of Dawn would look after hearing this sad news.

A settlement of over a thousand people, reduced to ashes overnight, simply because the Empire was slightly unhappy.

There was no better lesson for these arrogant and weak insolent fools.

Thinking this, a sense of vindication surged in Duke Garava’s heart.

Though it wasn’t very obvious,

After all, considering the diplomatic image of the Empire, he couldn’t admit that the Empire had done it, but those who understood knew what had happened.

He flipped open the newspaper and looked at the headline, but froze for a moment.

[New "Crab" style underwater Engineering Armor successfully launched in Potato Harbor, seabed freshwater pipeline advances to deep-water areas!]

What’s this all about?!

Regaining his composure, Duke Garava looked displeasedly at Niyan, who was standing by with a bowed posture.

"Did you get yesterday’s paper by mistake?"

He felt he had seen something similar before.

And who cares about this thing!

He wanted to see the explosion!

Niyan was momentarily stunned, then said with a wry smile.

"Sir, please look at the date carefully, this is today’s latest edition of the paper; I wouldn’t dare deceive you..."

And didn’t you already read yesterday’s paper?

Of course, Niyan didn’t dare let the noble Duke hear these thoughts that he only dared to mutter in his heart.

Realizing he had asked a silly question, Duke Garava coughed and pretended as if nothing had happened, flipping to the second page.

However, whether he turned to the third page, the fourth page, or even the last page, he did not find the content he was looking for in the newspaper.

Impossible...

Duke Garava was getting anxious, he flipped through the paper from beginning to end again, but still did not see what he wanted, so he turned to Niyan and ordered.

"Go buy some more newspapers... right, which one was the first to report the scandal of the manager of Shelter No. 70?"

Niyan immediately replied.

"Goblin Observation Report!"

"Yes, that one!" Duke Garava hastily said, "And don’t forget to buy a copy of that newspaper too!"

Watching Niyan leave the hotel lobby, Duke Garava felt that something was amiss. A sudden realization struck him, and he violently slapped his thigh, exclaiming.

"Good one, Chu Guang, that’s ruthless!"

The hotel owner standing behind the bar looked displeased at this man but said nothing, simply burying his head to continue his work.

Barbru, the guard standing behind Duke Garava, was slightly startled and hesitantly said,

"My Lord?"

"It’s nothing."

Duke Garava narrowed his eyes slightly, his expression composed, but his mind was clear as a mirror.

Potato Harbor had undoubtedly been destroyed. The Alliance must have already received the news but deliberately kept it quiet, simply waiting for him to lose his patience and jump out first.

If he truly showed that he was aware, it would be equivalent to admitting guilt, and the tragic incident at Potato Harbor would be related to him.

"Brilliant... truly brilliant," Duke Garava touched his beard and admiringly said, "I underestimated these guys."

He hadn’t expected the higher-ups of the Alliance to have some schemes, but they were still lacking compared to an old fox like him.

Watching the self-talking duke, Barbru felt somewhat confused, but seeing his inscrutable smile, it seemed like he must have made a clever move.

These high-profile figures always indirectly spar with one another. Unfortunately, Barbru didn’t have a mind as good as Niyan’s, so he could only admire from the sidelines.

Niyan had not returned from buying the newspaper yet, and just as Barbru was indecisive about whether to curry favor or not, a servant who entered from outside relieved him of the dilemma.

"My Lord, Mr. Cheng Yan has sent you an invitation. He hopes you could spare an hour to visit the Alliance Building before tonight to discuss some recent events in Potato Harbor."

Upon hearing these words, Duke Garava’s eyes instantly narrowed, revealing a hint of suppressed excitement and joy.

"Tell him that I am unavailable today. If he really wants to see me, let him come to my hotel, and I will wait for him here."

Hearing this, the servant hesitated but still mustered the courage to say,

"...Mr. Cheng Yan specifically mentioned that if you can’t find the time before tonight, he will consider you unfit to be a diplomat and will revoke your diplomatic immunity and status, ordering you to leave the country within a deadline."

In order to convey the message accurately without offending the duke, the servant chose his words as diplomatically as possible, whereas in fact, the message conveyed by the Alliance’s foreign minister was much more forceful and was not so much an invitation as a summons.

Yet even so, these words were still too harsh for the duke.

"How dare you!" Barbru’s eyes widened, startling the messenger, who promptly shut his mouth, not daring to speak further.

Duke Garava also narrowed his eyes at that moment, dangerous glints flickering within.

"Interesting, threatening me?"

Barbru leaned closer and whispered,

"Lord, this could be a trap."

Duke Garava simply smiled faintly and said in a deliberate manner,

"We cannot rule out that possibility. However, I am Weslan Empire’s representative at the Sticky Community meeting; if the Alliance still wants the meeting to continue, they cannot simply do something to me. Regardless, their agitated behavior has shown that they are desperate."

"With that being the case, I should meet with them."

He wanted to see what the Alliance could do to force him into admitting otherwise.

He did not stand here alone.

Behind him stood a vast empire.

Having said that, Duke Garava turned to the servant who was standing with bowed posture, commanding with an authoritative tone,

"Prepare the carriage!"

The servant quickly nodded.

"Yes, my Lord!"

...

In the Alliance Building, in the foreign minister’s office.

Looking at the files projected on the holographic screen, Cheng Yan drummed his fingers on the desk, his expression revealing a hint of headache.

The evidence chain was very complete.

Discontent with Potato Harbor’s sheltering of Moon Clan refugees, the Weslan Empire had launched a clandestine military operation. Since the group carrying out this attack was the empire’s elite Grey Wolf Army’s thousand team and reliable information suggested that only the emperor himself could command this force, it could be deduced that the operation had the emperor’s authorization or acquiescence.

He didn’t know what that emperor was thinking, but to treat such a serious matter so lightly, he felt this "Survivor Force" was somewhat reckless.

Of course, the Burning Corps stationed at Potato Harbor was also not easy to deal with, having directly landed in the enemy’s harbor and taken people captive.

Even more outrageous was that they had actually succeeded.

Objectively speaking, this was somewhat excessive. At least in Cheng Yan’s view, simply blockading the enemy’s harbor and issuing a warning would have been enough.

But now that things had come to this point, he could only accept this narrative and try his best to throw the blame on the other party from the Alliance’s standpoint.

At that moment, footsteps could be heard from the corridor outside the door.

Seeing his secretary’s suggestive glance, Cheng Yan understood and cleared his throat to adopt a serious demeanor.

At the same time, Duke Garava stepped through the office door with a carefree smile.

"Long time no see, Mr. Cheng, what’s so urgent that you needed to see me? By the way, your desk looks nice; I might get one for myself—"

"Duke Garava, consider a change of career."

Garava was stunned.

Not only did his steps halt at the entrance, but the carefree smile also froze on his face.

Thinking he misheard, he instinctively repeated the phrase,

"Change of career..."

"That’s right!"

Suppressing his throbbing temples and anger, Cheng Yan stared unapologetically and continued,

"How about a job like pacifying kids? I don’t know if you’re skilled at that, but it’s certainly more suitable for you than your current job, or you can go back to your hometown and be your landlord, bringing someone who can solve problems rather than create them and be the laughing stock of everyone. It would be better for all, whether it’s you guys or others on Wasteland."

Honestly, before this duke entered the room, he had been thinking about how to communicate with him in a normal human way.

But he realized this guy wasn’t a normal person at all.

The Alliance Army had already landed at Jin Galun Harbor, and this guy could still laugh about it—does he get his information by lying in bed and reading newspapers?!

Duke Garava’s face turned the color of liver, and he glared at Cheng Yan with murderous eyes, his lips trembling with rage.

"What do you mean? You..."

This guy dared to insult him again and again!

He dared!

Anger choked in his throat, and because of his excessive emotions, Duke Galava couldn’t think of a way to elegantly retort.

Ignoring the twisted face before him, Cheng Yan reached out with his index finger to the holographic screen, reading expressionlessly,

"Three days ago, at twelve o’clock midnight, a group of armed men with undeclared identities landed on the coast five kilometers north of Potato Harbor and attacked our defense forces without declaration of war."

Upon hearing this, Duke Garava suddenly rejoiced, his chest anger dissipating as if he were a victor, squinting his bean-sized eyes.

That was close.

He almost forgot that this was Alliance’s test for him.

"So what? What does that have to do with us?"

"What does it have to do with you?" Cheng Yan asked with a cold smile, "The Grey Wolf Army’s elite thousand team appeared near Potato Harbor, and this is your attitude?"

"That’s a shameless frame-up," Duke Garava said without hesitation, "The Grey Wolf Army is the elite of my Empire, under the direct command of His Majesty, no one else can command them."

Cheng Yan frowned.

"So this is His Majesty’s will?"

Duke Garava slightly raised his chin.

"I never said that, I just tell you that your port was destro... cough, whatever happened at your port has nothing to do with us. If there was indeed some tragic event, we deeply sympathize."

Seeing this guy who wouldn’t cry until he saw the coffin, Cheng Yan didn’t bother to continue wasting words with him and threw a still warm newspaper in front of him.

Duke Garava subconsciously caught it and looked at it carelessly, but as soon as his gaze landed on the first line of the headline, he was stunned.

"Centurion Di Rang of the Grey Wolf Army crying: I just touched you guys a bit, and you chased me for two thousand kilometers?!"

Di Rang...

Wait a minute!

Why would they know that guy’s name?!

Could it be...

For a moment, Duke Garava felt his heart palpitate, as if it had stopped beating, and the world before him began to spin.

Just as Cheng Yan and the secretary in his office were rushing to call an ambulance, a crowd was gathering around a newsstand in the suburbs of City of Dawn.

Looking at the sensational headlines of Goblin Observation Report, the people gathered around the stand all wore incredulous expressions.

"This has to be fake!"

"Two thousand kilometers?! Even airships would take two days!"

"Poluo Province... Isn’t that where Double-headed Cows are produced?"

"Why would they provoke us?"

"This makes no logical sense."

"What is the industry committee doing? What about the promised news qualification review, the reality check? And they’re selling this sort of thing on the shelves?!"

"Bro, look closely, this ain’t news, it’s labeled as entertainment, no problem!"

"That’s interesting, give me one to look at."

The crowd buzzed with debate, and with the mindset of seeing it as amusement, they each took out money to buy a copy, reading as they went to work.

Finally reaching the front of the queue, Niyan of the Mouse Tribe also pulled out a silver coin to buy a newspaper, flipping through it in his hand.

When he saw the first line on the front page, not only was there no sadness on his sharp face, but he actually laughed so hard that he snorted.

"Hahaha! Serves that doomed bunch right!"

Finally, they started to fight!

The noble Duke is a fool, and the emperor, who entrusted a fool with power and loved to play too much, did just as he expected, making a huge blunder in some bewildering place.

Did they think they could get away with it unnoticed?

It was completely laughable!

What was funnier was that the Alliance had so many exoskeletons they could even equip laborers carrying bricks, and their military strength was so mighty that they even defeated the Stickys, which not even the Post-War Reconstruction Committee could handle. Yet, these guys still dreamed of teaching these creatures a "profound" lesson with the cast-off junk from the Army.

The only thing that was regrettable was that this report was published in Goblin Observation Report as a joke, rather than making the front page of Survivor’s Daily.

Otherwise, the joke would have been even bigger.

Having read the entertaining news to the end, Niyan inwardly sighed with a sense of pity.

Without any surprises, the dear Duke would probably try to plead for the Empire’s innocence at the Sticky Community conference discussing the problem with the Stickys, and through a comedic performance, once again drag the Empire’s dignity through the mud, to the point that even the Army would start to disdain this ally who was good for nothing and bumbling.

He hoped dearly that the Duke wouldn’t do such a thing, as Niyan would have to strongly advise against it when he returned.

Niyan ran through all the sad stories of his life in his mind to hide the inappropriately gleeful smile on his face.

At this moment, he noticed the snot stuck to the newspaper and, embarrassed, bought another clean copy from the stand, stuffing the dirty one into the trash.

The bad news was already bad enough.

Hopefully, a neat and tidy newspaper could bring that noble a whole day of good spirits...

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