This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 708 - 707: Not Bad, My Child Has Made Something of Himself

Chapter 708: Chapter 707: Not Bad, My Child Has Made Something of Himself

Tiandu.

West Winds Empire’s Imperial Palace.

Having resided here for some days without even a glimpse of a soldier, McCullen was beginning to feel a bit bored, so he decided to stroll around with his adjutant.

The adjutant, named Aaron, was part of the civil service system, with a background in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and a rank of Centurion. About three years ago, he was dispatched to manage the interests of the Triumph City Official Group in the Poluo Province, understanding the local situation almost as well as the locals themselves.

As they passed by a side hall of the palace, McCullen saw a group of young men and women dressed in lavish clothes gathered around a sandbox.

The sandbox, about ten square meters in size, contained wooden carved pieces representing various fierce-looking animals such as tigers, leopards, wolves, birds, and beasts, pushed around by two servants wielding long poles.

Curious at the sight, McCullen asked,

"What is this?"

"War chess."

"...The soldiers?"

"The beasts on the board represent the soldiers; snakes eat rats, eagles prey on snakes, lions and tigers, tigers fear elephants, a herd of cattle under the sun are unstoppable, and mice in the night are invisible..." Seeing McCullen’s bewildered expression, Aaron chuckled and explained, "You shouldn’t underestimate this. It actually reflects the political philosophy and spiritual world of the survivors here."

He paused, then continued,

"Moreover, a standard board is twelve square meters and with chess pieces weighing six tons in total, it’s not something ordinary wealthy families can afford. As for the assessment board set below the steps of the palace side hall, it is even more incredible—3,300 square meters with a thousand life-sized pieces. I’ve been here for years and still haven’t fully grasped how to play it."

"Assessment?"

"It’s primarily for selecting military talents."

McCullen’s eyebrows twitched, and he couldn’t help but ask,

"They use this to select their generals?"

"Partly, yes—the six-ton board alone eliminates a considerable number of the impoverished."

"And the other part?"

"That’s where our merit comes in," Aaron continued enthusiastically, "We salvaged some equipment left by the Expeditionary Army in the Luo Xia Province through the Silver Moon Bay outlet and helped them build a professional army for less than thirty million dinar, and now this army is the trump card of the entire Poluo Province."

At the mention of the Expeditionary Army, McCullen’s lips involuntarily twitched fiercely.

While they were talking, the group of noble youths at the chessboard also noticed the two passersby and paused their discussion.

One of the young men, who seemed of high status, approached respectfully and said,

"Good afternoon, Mr. McCullen."

McCullen looked this slick-looking fellow over.

"And you are?"

Seeing the Weilante person engaging him in conversation, the man’s face lit up with joy and he continued,

"I am Manish, the second son of the Saisang Family. I’ve long heard of your legendary prowess, and I was wondering if I might have the honor of discussing tactics with you."

Aaron whispered to McCullen,

"He was the champion of the last grand examination, a direct disciple of Prince Dilip. If you’re interested in their war chess, having him teach you the rules might be a good idea."

McCullen gave the young man another look, then suddenly grinned, said nothing, and walked off with his hands behind his back.

Seeing this, Aaron hurriedly followed.

However, the group of nobles did not take offense at this Weilante man’s disrespect but seemed rather pleased, especially the young man who had approached to seek guidance.

"He just smiled at me," Manish boasted to his peers.

The group of young men and women around the sandbox laughed and paid their compliments,

"General McCullen must see the shadow of a Five-Star Ten Thousand Leader in you!"

"Sir Manish, you will definitely surpass your teacher and become an even greater general," said a young girl in a green dress with brown curly hair styled in braids, her eyes sparkling as she held her hands to her chest.

Enjoying the adulation of his friends, Manish laughed and raised his hand, feigning modesty,

"Too kind."

"I’m still far from matching Prince Dilip..."

...

In the corridor of the side hall.

Following closely behind McCullen, Aaron said with a look of resignation,

"Couldn’t you be a bit nicer to them? At the very least, they are nominally our friends, and if you want to see your own army soon, building good relations with these royal aristocrats is actually a good idea. The Witch Gu has been intentionally nurturing the military skills of the royal offspring."

McCullen, unconcerned, replied,

"I am merely communicating with them in the way they prefer; haven’t you noticed they respect me more because of it?"

Initially, he had also reflected if his approach was a bit too harsh.

Especially when he thought of the survivors in the River Valley Province, who went to their deaths unhesitatingly for their leaders, he was truly moved.

To earn respect from others, one must respect others. Perhaps the Weilante people were indeed a bit too arrogant towards other races.

However—

Doing so here was utterly pointless.

Every person here was constantly scheming how to maximize their authority, while trying to compensate for the dignity trampled upon by those above them from those ranked lower. He had watched a duke openly proposition a countess during a dinner, and after the count, smiling, had sent the couple off into that ridiculous carriage, he turned and took the hand of another baroness.

The palace of Tiandu was like a connected centipede. Some, though dressed in clean and neat clothes, were filthier than those without clothes.

Although he was no saint himself, the thought of joining this centipede left him utterly disinterested.

He had never been so clear-headed and desiring nothing.

At that moment, the communicator on Aaron’s wrist suddenly flickered. He immediately took out his earpiece and put it on, and his expression changed instantly.

McCullen was about to ask what had happened when he saw that familiar, thick beard approaching quickly, surrounded by a crowd of servants.

The sharp-angled face, unlike when they first met, was full of panic, and his stumbling steps resembled crossing a single-plank bridge, leaving only bewilderment and alarm in his deep-set eyes.

He had indeed not misjudged, that was the facade of a cruel and cunning man.

Before Aaron could greet him, the Emperor of the West Winds Empire took the initiative to speak.

"General, save me!"

Watching Witch Gu clutching his arm, McCullen stepped back in astonishment.

"What’s wrong with you?"

Witch Gu let go, hastily straightened his appearance, but couldn’t hide the panic in his eyes. After a moment of shifting gaze, he said,

"...Let’s talk somewhere else."

...

They moved from the side hall to the conference hall in the backyard, where Witch Gu finally explained everything in detail.

Initially, he tried to obscure certain details during his recount, such as downplaying the cause of the incident, exaggerating the barbarity and rudeness of the Alliance after landing at Jinjaron Harbor, and being unreasonably demanding in their response to the ceasefire agreement...

However, Aaron had his intelligence system locally, and since many from the Grey Wolf Army were trained by them, he naturally understood the true story.

Of course, the origins of the matter were never the most crucial; what was pivotal was how to solve the problem.

Watching the shaken Emperor, Aaron coughed softly in an attempt to comfort him.

"Please, Your Majesty, do not panic. I have a rough idea of what happened... The response from the Alliance was indeed excessive."

"Excessive?!" Witch Gu’s eyes widened in anger as he punched the wooden armrest of his chair, "Jinjaron Harbor is the most important outlet on the East Coast to the sea, inhabited by a million citizens of the Empire! And you call this ’excessive’!"

McCullen, who was toying with a teacup on the table, didn’t even glance at him.

If this guy were desperately trying to flee for his life, McCullen wasn’t sure if he might get flustered.

Aaron, sitting to the side, tried to pacify him.

"Let’s not get agitated, Your Majesty... have some tea and calm down first."

He knew the guy was not worried about the hundred or so animals that could live off the land but about the gold located in the harbor.

Five billion dinars were indeed no small sum.

The chances of that money still being in the harbor were slim, and getting angry over what was already lost was pointless. Instead, it would be wiser to think of meaningful ways to use the money that had already been spent.

Like paying reparations.

At least in his view, with the Empire’s current strength, a turnaround was utterly impossible; the more they struggled, the tighter the grip on their throat would become.

Witch Gu took a swig of tea, set the cup down heavily on the table, seemingly venting his final bit of anger.

When Aaron noticed his breathing had slowed, he systematically presented a well-prepared solution.

"First, please accept this ceasefire agreement."

The conference hall fell silent.

Not a sound was heard among the three.

McCullen raised an eyebrow at Aaron, then resumed silently playing with the spoon beside the teacup.

Witch Gu stared blankly at Aaron, glanced hurriedly at McCullen who wasn’t even looking at him, and looked back at Aaron.

"...What about your armies?"

Aaron took a sip of tea to moisten his throat and said gently,

"Each legion has its own combat plans; they dislike unexpected arrangements. Besides, inviting them here is easy, sending them off is not."

Witch Gu’s eyes widened.

"Aren’t we the closest of friends?!"

Aaron looked back at him, surprised, as if amazed he would ask such a question.

"Respected Majesty, we certainly are, which is why we’re offering solutions to problems, not allowing things to worsen... Marshal does not want this regional conflict escalating to a full-scale war, nor would you like to see them deploy planes, tanks, and artillery on your coast, frank speaking, they are much more restrained than they were in the Luo Xia Province."

"But, Jinjaron Harbor..." Witch Gu, almost crying with anxiety, gripped the armrests of his chair like a child whose toy had been taken away, "If we withdraw our troops by a hundred kilometers and they advance even further, what then?"

General McCullen, who had been silent until then, suddenly spoke.

"Don’t worry about that; they’ll withdraw, at least near the harbor. But knowing them, they might play some tricks, just like in the Falcon Kingdom."

Aaron looked curiously at McCullen, as if unaware of what had happened there.

"Such as?"

McCullen responded casually.

"They formed a Citizens’ Self-Government Committee to counterbalance the nobility. It’s complicated to explain, you should ask Centurion Cohen about it; he took over General Kras’s position and is now the governor of the Luo Xia Province."

Aaron continued to face the despairing Witch Gu, who he seemed to have intended to use McCullen’s words for some effect.

"You’ve heard it; expecting the Alliance to withdraw straightforwardly is naive. The mess they leave behind doesn’t go away no matter how much you flush. My suggestion is... establish a buffer zone in Jinjaron Harbor, maintain its sovereignty, but exclude it from the Empire, to at least avoid their leftover dirt undermining your authority."

He paused before continuing.

"Of course, we understand the importance of Jinjaron Harbor to you; the Empire’s finances rely on the gold contributed by that port. However, gold is not the only valuable thing. If you don’t mind, we can help you establish a similar port on the West Coast of Poluo Province, closer to Triumph City, and even assist in developing some heavy industries that the Empire lacks... of course, to better proceed with the plan, we would need some autonomous decision-making authority in the local area."

Witch Gu looked at him, his expression dazed.

"... What’s the point of this? I need an army, not craftsmen."

"I know you need an army, and that’s exactly what we’re giving you," Aaron said with a smile. "Do you know why the Alliance can chase you around with just a few hundred people? Because they have something you don’t... Their factories can mass-produce rifles and artillery. Once you also have factories, you’ll be no worse off than they are."

Honestly, Triumph City had enough slaves, especially those from Weilante who had returned from a loss in the east and were considering how to improve their lives.

After all, no matter how fast a slave could fan, they couldn’t keep up with electric fans and air conditioning, and physiological needs were easily satisfied.

Although the Legion had some factories producing consumer goods besides those making weapons, their cost remained high due to their low share in the total industrial output; mainly the officers could afford them, making it hard to benefit everyone like in Ideal City.

Helping through Poluo Province to take on some low-to-mid-tier industries might be a good idea.

There were resources and manpower here, even if they could reduce the price of consumer goods in Triumph City by 1%, it would make those behind him immensely wealthy.

It would also slightly arm this dim-witted junior, a truly win-win situation.

Witch Gu fell into deep thought.

After a long while, he loosened the fingers tightly grasping the armrests and nodded hesitantly.

"I’ll think about it..."

Aaron knew he was tempted, but such a big decision needed to be discussed with his officials and relatives.

What constructive suggestions could those yes-men provide, though?

At most, they would help him polish the grammar in his decrees, making a rather embarrassing situation sound more palatable and less humiliating.

So he wasn’t in a hurry and patiently said.

"We await your good news... But honestly, other matters can wait; the ceasefire agreement should be expedited. You’re already at a disadvantage and cannot reverse it in the short term; the longer it drags on, the more advantageous for them."

Witch Gu nodded slightly and got up to leave the council hall.

His silhouette looked utterly lonely.

The room quieted down.

Watching McCullen, who was silently sitting aside, Aaron’s serious face broke into a satisfied smile as he leaned back in his chair.

"We’ve done nothing, yet we’ve gained no less than our opponents."

Seeing that his nominal superior was at a loss for words, he continued smugly.

"See what I was saying? If you want to maintain good relations with them, you can never be more anxious than they are."

McCullen coughed lightly to remind him.

"But Bister Town is just outside the Falcon Kingdom, and we haven’t lost an inch of our territory."

Aaron shrugged and said with a smile.

"Who cares, they are not our vassals, just our friends."

...

Bad news always travels faster than good news.

Within a few days, the news of the Grey Wolf Army’s defeat at the front had spread back to Tiandu, causing widespread panic.

Some said the entire Grey Wolf Army was captured; others said it was actually a Ten-Thousand Troops unit, while the remaining four units still had some fight left in them.

Regardless, these Grey Dog had thoroughly embarrassed the royal family, wearing the most expensive gear in the dumbest of battles.

General Arai Yang also went from a war god revered by thousands to a clown spitted by thousands, with young men and women from the Wolf Tribe angrily throwing his promotional images out of their homes, only for some from the Rat Clan and Snake Clan to pick them up for making clothes.

The rumors grew wilder, with someone claiming that the Alliance planned to advance along the river all the way to Tiandu, frightening many, and the settlement gates were jammed with fleeing carts and ox-carts.

Fortunately, His Majesty’s timely decree halted those who were rushing out of the city en masse and clarified all the rumors.

[... Due to weather conditions causing difficulty in suppressing bandits, the Grey Wolf Army is permitted to move one hundred kilometers west, reconstructing defensive lines in the eastern forests near the City of Thousand Pillars, with strict orders to dig deep trenches and build extensive shelters.

Moreover, the Tiger Army and Black Panther Army will send a force of one hundred thousand each, arriving from the north and south to form a three-sided encirclement of the enemy.

The current situation in Jin Galun Harbor is tumultuous, and imperial citizens are advised not to travel there unless necessary.]

The decree seemed to say everything and nothing at once, but it ultimately made two points clear: "the empire’s enemy" will not continue to press westward, and three hundred thousand troops are ready on the front lines for a devastating strike against the enemy.

The upper-class citizens and nobles knew somewhat what had happened; a foolish decision by His Majesty had provoked revenge from the Alliance.

As for the middle and lower class citizens and most of the poor, they referred to the incoming sea-based enemies as "Iron Men," with varied attitudes ranging from curiosity to indifference, but mostly dominated by curses.

Originally, only His Majesty and the nobles he had ennobled were over their heads; now, there was an additional "iron lump" pressing on His Majesty’s shoulders.

The sequence of respect and contempt shifted downward again, leaving those already lowly people to think even less of themselves.

In Jin Galun Harbor, however, the atmosphere was entirely different.

Nobles and citizens were overly welcoming and appeasing to these "Iron Men" to an embarrassing extent.

As for the poor, they remained relatively conservative.

Aside from those who earned money by digging trenches, demolishing houses, and leading the way, who secretly rejoiced and welcomed the newcomers, most were fearful and sycophantic, mainly indifferent and unconcerned.

Those who ate dirt continued to do so; nothing changed for them. Those who managed to eat a few meals of beans complained about the rising prices of feed, as the price of black beans finally broke ten in uncertainty, making life increasingly difficult...

...

"Wasteland OL" official website.

Today, the forum was as lively as ever.

Since the mutant mucor mother nest in Qingquan City was dealt with, the Sticky Community meetings, under the Manager’s guidance, had seen more and more progress. As the save points in Far North Land’s Ice Sea City and Far East Land’s Cloud-Below-City were established one after another, many players tasted the sweetness of exploring new maps and brought back distant stories and intel to the official website.

However, compared to the bits and pieces of incidents along the way, the big news created by the Burning Corps in Poluo Province was far more stimulating.

Five hundred people took over a settlement with a population of over a million.

The population of this settlement is almost more than the total population of the Alliance combined!

As usual, today Brother Fang Chang is still bringing a new day of fun to the buddies who are moving bricks, beating dust, going local, and sweeping relics in River Valley Province.

Fang Chang, "Telegraph from the Empire’s capital! They’ve agreed to pull back a hundred kilometers but also mentioned they’ll be sending more soldiers to the front line unless we completely retreat from Poluo Province. Moreover, they demand that we don’t leave Jinjaron Harbor, either return to the sea or stay within the settlement, which is their bottom line, otherwise, the temporary ceasefire agreement becomes void. As for the specific ceasefire agreement, it will be negotiated and signed by Duke Garava who is currently in Dawn City."

Quit Smoking, "Fuck?"

Tail, "Eh!?"

Night Ten, "Well, well, aren’t these guys brave? (facetious)"

Gnome King Riches, "Can you tolerate this?!"

Elena, "If it were me, I absolutely couldn’t tolerate it. I’d build an airport and go after them! (facetious)"

In a blink, the post was stacked with dozens of comments, and the entire forum was filled with lively banter.

A few people were bragging in the post, but most were egging them on, urging them to fight their way west to Tiandu and capture that old Emperor alive.

Some people were not satisfied with just watching the excitement and wanted to join the fray on the front lines.

Midnight with an umbrella, no knife, "Bros, do you need mercenaries? My garbage lord eats too much. (crying)"

Debt Giant Eye, "Bro, look at me. I didn’t raise that stupid thing, mainly wanting to help the suffering survivors locally. (facetious)"

Pick up trash 99 level, "???"

Tranquility, "Come on, be human. (sweat)"

Fang Chang, "Stay calm, we are civilized people; we still have to abide by the rules. We know how to fight and how far to go."

Spring Water Commander, "Actually, I think even if you don’t adhere to the last clause, it’d be fine, they can’t see anyway, and if they did, they’d probably pretend not to. (sideways smirk)"

That was more like a harsh word to help the Empire save face.

Just like the previous "notification."

Old White, "We think the same, but we’re not planning to stir up trouble for now. Jinjaron Harbor is a mess right now, from the Governor’s Mansion to the market in the north of Kraba City, it’s all ruins. We are planning to reconstruct some of the city areas, establish some industries, and then foster a local power to take over municipal and police institutions... Brother Fang Chang is handling this right now, I don’t understand much, haha, but interested lifestyle players can ask him about it. (grinning)"

Fang Chang, "Well, Potato Harbor’s land characteristics aren’t suitable for developing industry, as the maintenance costs of industrial facilities are too high. However, the planting industry could get a growth acceleration BUFF, especially for some tropical and subtropical crops, and the feedback from local residents is promising. Therefore, we adjusted the initial plan, intending to place secondary industries in Jinjaron Harbor and focus on primary production along the Baiyue Strait coast."

Spare people under the knife, "Wow! DNA has tweaked! (facetious)"

Levin with athlete’s foot, "Shall we build a branch factory in Lagos!"

Old White, "Of course, you’re welcome. There are plenty of minerals here, just that the electricity might be a bit expensive. (grinning)"

Poluo Province’s mineral resources are plentiful; centuries-old de-urbanization led to large amounts of trash either rusting and weathering away or being buried under soil layers or within mountains.

Resources don’t just disappear; they exist in another form. Similar to the "mines" of the Red River Alliance, they are everywhere in Poluo Province.

Moreover, the area also has abundant human resources; although the education rate has dropped a bit, some labor-intensive industries don’t really need a high educational threshold.

Fang Chang: "...We’re not rushing into heavy industry; we plan to start with textiles. I’ve looked through the port’s import and export books, and textiles are already one of the main export goods here. We have ample raw materials and skilled workers, and production equipment can be bought from Giant Stone City and Dawn City. Transporting them through Silver Moon Bay isn’t too troublesome."

Teng Teng: "Speaking of which, isn’t there a power shortage over there? I guess we’ll have to use pedal-operated sewing machines... Do we even have those things here? (confused)"

Night Ten: "Of course we do! What’s with the electrification in the POW camps anyway? Dawn City just switched from kerosene lamps to electric lights a few months ago. (playful)"

Si Si: "Cough cough, I’m no expert, but I think it’d be better to consider the local food issues first. Jinjaron Harbor’s fertile land mainly grows cash crops like cotton, sugarcane, and spices. The locals primarily rely on imported staple foods from the plains in the west via the inland port on the Everflow River... At this rate, they might end up literally ’eating dirt’."

Tail: "Oh! Tail thinks so too! That dirt is way too hard to chew; it almost killed me last time, giao. (`-д-;)ゞ"

Quit smoking: "Damn, you’ve eaten it?!"

WC has Mosquito: "Elena: I concede. (playful)"

Elena: "As much as it annoys me, it feels like I’d lose if I argued now. (playfully angry limited.jpg)"

Gnome King Riches: "Hahahaha."

Fang Chang: "We’ll keep an eye on this issue. We’ve already noticed a general rise in the prices of legumes in the past few days. In the short term, we plan to import some food through Silver Moon Bay to solve the problem. For the medium to long term, it might be feasible to convert some of the plantations from cash crops to corn or rice fields."

Mole on the Run: "By the way, what about those over ten thousand prisoners? What do you plan to do with them?"

Fang Chang: "I was just about to get to that. The Empire hopes we’ll return those people soon, considering the over ten thousand families behind them. However, we plan to delay their release until after the ceasefire agreement is officially signed. In the meantime, we might have them work on projects like the Crab Market reconstruction; we can’t just keep feeding all these people for nothing."

Spring Water Commander: "Labor reform is indeed a good idea; maybe they could take something useful back home. (playful)"

Fang Chang: "Hopefully. But to be honest, I don’t hold much hope for the locals’ sense of initiative. The few worth training are mostly the warlord-type talents. Spiritually, they could progress to the early stages of Giant Stone City; regress, and they’re pure looters. And not to mention assimilating them; stay there too long, and we might end up as morally bankrupt as Big Eyes."

Debt Giant Eye: "Damn, did I just get shot while lying down?"

Tail: "Got it! I’ll tell Dolly immediately, and then take advantage of the situation to whisk away the lovely Miss Dolly! ヾ(ﾟ∀ﾟゞ)"

Si Si: "???"

Fang Chang: "Heh, give it a try if you think you can, I’m quite confident in myself... By the way, Ah Wei, what about those people you let go from the port area? Can you still contact them?"

Tail: "Oh, Si Si left them a radio, so if they haven’t broken it, there shouldn’t be a problem! By the way, do you need them for something?"

Fang Chang: "Yes, we’d like to have a chat with them."

While the players were having a lively chat, Chu Guang, who was sitting in the B4 Layer of Sanctuary No. 404 and sipping soda, was also wearing a face filled with satisfaction and sentiment.

A long, long time ago, when the Legion System had just been introduced, he had imagined letting players use the system to spontaneously spread the seeds of civilization.

Although their execution was still a bit rough, and their motivations might not completely align with his own, it was coming along alright.

He knew ’wanting everything’ was not a viable approach; those who are too controlling and want everything often end up getting nothing.

His only expectation for these players was quite simple, and from what he could tell, they were doing quite well and gradually improving.

Chu Guang contentedly stretched out his index finger and gently rubbed Xiao Qi’s little head.

"Not bad, my child is getting along."

Xiao Qi: "...???"