This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 732: The Alliance’s Old Profession

Chapter 732: Chapter 732: The Alliance’s Old Profession

"Survivor’s Daily"

[Last night, the first thousand team of the 31st Ten thousand troops of the Army initiated an offensive against Black Cloud Peak, the second peak of Ten Peaks Mountain, and succeeded in controlling the entire peak at 22:10...]

Proof was in the pudding.

The Eastern Legion’s direct troops did have some tricks up their sleeves.

After suffering 112 casualties, that elite group of Weilante people equipped with automatic firepower finally managed to plant the Army’s flag on the mountaintop before the dawn bell.

The remnants of the green-skinned Big Guys and Goblins either hid in those man-made tunnels and shelters or retreated to the third peak of Ten Peaks Mountain—Broken Blade Mountain.

Compared to Black Cloud Peak, the so-called Broken Blade Mountain was slightly shorter, but the wonder of nature here was no less astonishing.

The entire mountain looked like a sharply jutting long sword, cut across the middle, leaving only half remaining. The two sides of the mountain were sheer cliffs – too steep for even trees to hold on to, let alone people.

A diagonal path spiraled to the mountaintop, from south to north, and this path also happened to be the most treacherous section of the Eighty Miles of Bone Road. Not to mention that heavy vehicles would have difficulty traversing it—death claws, capable of climbing rocks, also found it a tough climb.

However, even so, compared to a few other untouched natural strongholds nearby, it was a little easier to build bridges and roads here.

According to the operational plan of the Allied forces’ headquarters, this peak was to be the responsibility of the infantry of Company 100’s Mountain Division, with support from the Alliance and Army following behind.

The offensive was scheduled to launch in three days!

Aside from the combat preparations for three days from now, what Edge Shoveling was actually more interested in was the Army’s performance in last night’s battle.

According to their previous analysis on the Forum, the Army’s real trump card was never about individual combat ability, or even a particular unit. The true winning magic of those guys was the vast logistics system and the capacity for sustained combat.

Their entire social system was prepared for war, where every institution existed either to complete the production of war weapons, or to train officers and soldiers, or to reward military aristocrats who had distinguished themselves on the battlefield.

Therefore, discussing the combat power of any one unit wasn’t actually very meaningful. Companies needed to bluff with numbers, while these fellows truly had a hundred divisions.

And they were all standing armies, ready to be deployed without the need for mobilization!

If it weren’t for the Great Desert in between, making the Eastern Provinces far too remote from Triumph City, and most logistics had to rely on Servant Countries, the performance of the Expeditionary Army might not have been so utterly disappointing, let alone lacking support in a hinterland brimming with main warring factions.

However, Edge Shoveling was unexpectedly surprised by not just the poor performance of the Glory Army but also by the performance of the 31st Ten thousand troops last night.

And what was even more surprising was that special unit called the "Sweeping Group."

A hundred soldiers in all, each nearly three meters tall with burly figures like iron towers, completely covered in black bulletproof linings and exoskeletons.

Their position probably resembled a special combat company under a division-level unit, but in actuality, their performance on the battlefield was more like "humanoid armored personnel carriers" coordinating with the infantry.

These tall and burly fellows used shotguns and heavy machine guns as their primary weapons, notably firing the latter while advancing without setting up.

In addition, they were equipped with a large number of incendiary, shrapnel, and other types of heavy grenades, and they also hung a battle axe or iron hammer as a "firepower supplement" for close-quarters combat.

The combat style of these guys was fiercely aggressive, on par with the brothers from the Jungle Corps. They often appeared in the most perilous parts of the front line, taking out the enemy in the most straightforward and brutal ways. Even the most vicious mutants couldn’t withstand their onslaught.

Had it not been for the occasionally exposed faces that were indeed human in appearance, Edge Shoveling might even have suspected that they were mutants in exoskeletons...

"Those people? Of course, they’re Weilante people... just the kind who botched the use of the medicine," someone said.

In the military base’s cafeteria.

While dining, Edge Shoveling brought up the matter to Su Ming, who was busy with his stir-fried rice and spoke in a casual tone.

Edge Shoveling asked in confusion,

"What do you mean?"

Su Ming said,

"The use of ’Awakening Potions’ to forcibly express non-coding genes does not guarantee 100% awakening. According to the technology path, there is also a certain probability of side effects of varying degrees... severe cases result in death, while mild cases result in disability or various genetic diseases. You’ve heard of that, haven’t you?"

Edge Shoveling nodded.

"Uh-huh."

Fang Chang’s brothers’ partner seemed to be a victim of the Awakening Potion.

It was apparently a product of the Huge Rock Military Industry, remembered as ’Dragon Blood.’

Since it was free, many in Giant Stone City who wished to become mercenaries but lacked strength had used it; Huge Rock Military Industry even launched a special loan for those disabled by the Dragon Blood Potion.

After the collapse of Inner City, the new authorities classified ’Dragon Blood’ as a prohibited drug.

Shelter No. 404 had a similar product, but it was much safer than Dragon Blood.

Although the probability of awakening was also a mystery, and multiple injections were necessary, the biggest incident so far had only been a failure to awaken, with no cases of physical disability.

Of course, if "difficulty in producing offspring" also counted as a disability, then that was a problem for most Awakeners.

Edge Shoveling guessed that this might be some kind of self-protection mechanism of a biological species—that is, to prevent the ability to randomly express non-coding genes from being passed down.

Of course, this was just his guess based on the game’s setting.

In reality, there were neither Awakeners nor so many mutant creatures.

"... The Weilante People from the Sweeping Group were a similar case. You should know about them, right? They were ’naturally born soldiers’ synthetically created by the Weilante Laboratory under the Technical Department during the War Construction Committee period."

Taking a glance at the Alpha Special Mobile Force soldiers dining not far away, Su Ming fiddled with a spoon in his hand and continued in a very soft, slow voice,

"If ordinary people’s non-coding genes are a long string of naturally formed crap, theirs were artificially designed... One theory is that the designers from the Technical Department inserted unfinished code from ’Perfect Life forms’ into theirs, then annotated it in some way, to make up the 23 pairs of chromosomes."

"The original intent of the War Construction Committee was to use these tool-like beings to fight against slime molds and also collect some experimental data to complete the Singularity Technology that wasn’t finished during the Era of Prosperity, then eradicate these unstable beings through sterilization or other more civilized methods after the end of the Wasteland Era, to prevent genetic contamination..."

"This is the information I found on Endpoint Cloud before, maybe it can answer some of your questions. But whether it is true or not, you’ll have to verify yourself... Anyone can talk on Endpoint Cloud, and sometimes it’s mostly boasting."

Using a VM translator to understand this conversation full of technical jargon, Edge Shoveling tried to comprehend and then his eyes widened in astonishment.

Holy smokes!

So that means...

There are Mutants living in the DNA of the Weilante People?!

No, that statement might not be accurate enough; it’s more like "parts of Mutants are living in their DNA."

Mutants are the unfinished products of ’Perfect Life forms,’ and so are the Weilante People.

Only, the former let loose all the unstable genes, completely forming a new species, while the latter intermixed some gene fragments homologous to Mutant DNA with human genes!

This is why when Weilante People awaken, some become stronger humans, while others become humans with Mutant traits.

After all, the essence of awakening is the unique expression of non-coding genes within an individual; no one can say for sure which part will be expressed.

"But why are the latter considered failures?" Edge Shoveling asked, not understanding.

Su Ming made a helpless expression,

"Then you’ll have to ask the experts of the Weilante People... I told you, I heard this from Endpoint Cloud."

Edge Shoveling: "..."

While the two were eating, the soldiers from the Alpha Special Mobile Force at the next table had finished scouring their plates and walked in unison to get their meals.

"Potato and pork over rice, three more orders, and add extra rice," the squad leader at the front took out his meal card and said concisely.

The chef handing out the meals paused, counting again the people standing in front of the serving station. No matter how he counted, there were only four of them.

But he didn’t ask any further.

These guys with gas masks hanging on their helmets and goggles covering their eyes hardly looked like normal people.

"Three orders for you..." After placing the prepared meals on the table, he couldn’t help but suggest, "If you three are eating together, you could actually just order a few stir-fried dishes with rice separately."

"No need, thank you."

The squad leader nodded, holding three plates with both hands, and turned back to his previous table.

Just when the server thought it was all done with, the soldier who had been behind the squad leader stepped forward, pulling out his meal card in an identical manner.

"Potato and pork, three more orders, and add extra rice."

Server: "..."

As he expected, the two behind did the same, ordering three portions of the same dish, and even the actions of taking their plates and saying thank you were as if cut from the same mold.

It was as if these guys had made an agreement.

Everyone ordered the same dish, completely clearing out a large bucket of potato and pork. The other dozen dishes weren’t even half consumed.

In response to this situation, the server could only contact the kitchen to rush another bucket over.

What he didn’t know was that in the communication channels he couldn’t hear or see, a series of invisible radio waves were exchanging at the speed of light.

"Potato and pork is good, recommended."

"Indeed nice."

"Nice."

"Really nice."

"Satisfied."

"..."

By the time the Alpha Special Mobile Force soldiers had finished their meals and returned their plates, a swarm of freshly trained corporate soldiers had just poured into the cafeteria.

These new recruits had gone through three months of training at the boot camp and hadn’t stopped training after arriving here, each one of them was so hungry that their eyes were glowing green.

One of the young soldiers squeezed to the front of the serving station, glanced at the menu on the wall, and quickly slapped his meal card on the card reader.

"Boss, give me a potato and pork! Also, one braised eggplant and two orders of rice!"

Mentioning that dish was troublesome, the server waved impatiently: "Potato and pork is gone, cleaned out by those guys wearing masks. Wait another half hour if you want it."

The crowd was instantly shocked.

"What the heck?!"

"Cleaned out?!"

They hadn’t really wanted to eat it at first, but hearing it was all gone, everyone’s saliva started to flow and they curiously lined up to wait.

The line grew longer and longer.

Later, not just corporate soldiers, but soldiers from other settlements like Free State and Garbage City also came to join the fun.

In just one day, the Weifu Military Base sold nearly 100,000 orders of potato and pork!

Especially the rice-devouring champions from the Academy, starting with three orders each, the thousand-strong mobile forces managed to devour like a ten thousand-strong force!

Although the military cafeteria wasn’t designed for profit and the profit on a single meal wasn’t much, only 1 to 2Cr, it still added up to a considerable amount.

That day, there were no combat operations on the northern front.

A small number of army soldiers were cleaning up the remaining mutants and goblins in the tunnels of Black Cloud Peak, but behind the Weilante People, the Alliance’s potato and pork over rice quietly became popular throughout the entire military base...

Not only were the players dumbfounded, but even Chu Guang in Dawn City was taken by surprise.

Just with one dish, these soldiers from all over had managed to exhaust the base’s supply of potatoes...

When Chu Guang in Dawn City received the frontline report, he was stunned for a few seconds.

"Goodness... can the military base even be profitable?!"

Hand on heart, Chu Guang honestly hadn’t thought about making money off the supply bodies.

The Alliance was no longer the impoverished little village of the past.

As the Manager of the Alliance, his duty wasn’t just about finding every possible way to feed his supporters, but leading the full-bellied fellows to rebuild a greater era and unite more people who hadn’t had their share.

It was for this reason that he practically gave away many originally profitable operations, like train capacity, at cost to the friendly supply bodies.

And if it were logistics supplies manufactured in Giant Stone City Industrial Zone, on behalf of Dawn City, they could even get a 50% discount on top of the cost price! It was as if the Alliance was subsidizing the treasury, encouraging the supply body forces to produce logistics supplies in the Alliance’s industrial zones!

Although from a short-term perspective, this would increase some fiscal deficit, looking at the bigger picture, the benefits this brought couldn’t even compare.

"Foreign trade orders" brought not just capital, technology, and talent but also tighter cooperation.

Even after the war is over, some of these orders will not disappear due to inertia from the close cooperation formed during the war.

Including the accompanying capital, technology, and talent that came with those orders.

This was also a sort of public strategy.

All parties had long-term interests in solving the fungus problem, and short-term interests in dealing with the "Heaven disaster" that was the Torch Church.

Even the usually stingy Academy was willing to take on the risk of some technology leakage to move some of the less critical, high front-line demand industries to Giant Stone City, closer to the front, or even to have them produced by Huge Rock Military Industry.

For example, capacitors used in Gauss Rifles and polymer bulletproof liners for Exoskeletons, among others.

The related technologies could prompt upgrades for more than a dozen industry chains within the Alliance.

In contrast, the fiscal subsidy paid by the Alliance was negligible.

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that Chu Guang spent money in preparation for a long-term campaign.

Unexpectedly, the war had barely been waged for three weeks, and they had managed to make a profit from the cafeteria?

Xiao Qi sitting atop the pen holder looked at him intently, raising a thumb in admiration.

"Worthy of being my master! Others lose money in war, but you not only didn’t lose any money, you even made some!"

Chu Guang cleared his throat.

"... Even if you praise me, there’s no benefit in it for you."

"How can there be none?"

Holding her cheeks with both hands, Xiao Qi made a shy expression, and her bright big eyes peered at him through her fingers.

"When master is happy, it is the most, most, most blissful thing for Xiao Qi... Hehe."

Huh?!

Chu Guang looked at the little one in surprise.

Why did he feel that this guy was getting smarter and smarter?

But who had he learned this sly talk from?

Is this the way to use these words?

"I always feel that Master is thinking of something rude..."

Gazing at Chu Guang with a doubtful face, Xiao Qi crossed her arms over her chest, and the slightly upturned tip of her lips seemed not too pleased with his surprised expression.

Chu Guang gave a light cough and steered the off-topic conversation back on track.

"No, I was just thinking... I had been negligent before and almost forgot about our old trade."

The development of the Alliance was so fast that he had forgotten about the soldiers’ pockets full of salaries.

Including the task rewards he had given to players.

These guys would earn money but ultimately couldn’t spend it in the City of Dawn, so most likely they would exchange it at the official website’s Silver Exchange.

It was better to let them spend it on the frontlines.

What the Alliance lacked now was no longer productivity, but a place that could release productivity and generate positive benefits. Maybe by relying on the spending power of this bunch of guys, a settlement could be forced into existence.

This wasn’t impossible.

Reports from the frontlines mentioned that some traders from Mafu Town had even driven cattle carts to the terminal station of the railway—the Weifu Military Base Station, where non-military personnel were not allowed to board the train—and set up stalls to sell local specialties like cow milk, horse milk, and other dairy products.

With survivors from other parts of Brocade River Province gathering around, a new settlement might gradually form there.

"Old trade?" Xiao Qi tilted her head, not sure which one Chu Guang was referring to, since he played so many tricks.

"Heavy industry BBQ, light industry buns and steamed buns... Of course, conditions are better now than before, and there can be other things besides Food."

Chu Guang smiled faintly, waved his index finger lightly in the air, and tapped the holographic screen to open the window for assigning tasks and server activities.

His creativity was limited, but he believed in the boundless creativity of his little players.

"... Let’s send some lifestyle profession players to the frontline."

...

While the Alliance soldiers on the northern front were busy eating, the mutants on Ten Peaks Mountain were also gobbling up their meals.

But they weren’t eating rice, rather livestock or people who were like livestock.

The Torch Church had provided them with a rich source of food and tools for reproduction.

Ever since the fire in Haiya Province had started, they had been feasting every day, and the good days had never stopped.

Even though they had lost two hilltops, these green-skinned guys weren’t the least bit worried.

The battle was just beginning, and the human Alliance had barely entered their home turf.

Besides the ones that could dig, they also had ones that could fly. When those humans really reached halfway up the mountain, that would be the start of their nightmare.

They would tear those humans apart bit by bit and use their blood and guts to worship their deceased kin, pleasing their "Beast King"!

Broken Blade Mountain.

All the green-skinned mutants and goblins on the mountain were busy preparing for war.

Except for one.

In a spacious cave, a green-skinned brute about ten meters long sat in the middle of a pile of humanoid skeletons like a decorative hill, snoring with gusto.

Its green skin was like moss that hadn’t seen sunlight for ages, pitted like a toad. Its arms were like the shovels of an excavator, and the snoring that came from its mouth sounded like thunder, while the drool hanging from the corner of its mouth occasionally dripped on the skeletons below, making a corrosive sizzle sound.

Its name was Ollon, the leader of the Stone Axe Family, the biggest and strongest brute in the tribe, and also a rare natural mutant among mutants.

As an exception to the Perfect Life forms project, it had some of the features of a Super Mutant, so even a smashed brain wouldn’t kill it. Instead, it would go berserk from losing its sanity, and its recovery power could even exceed part of the slime mold entities, even more enduring than the "Meat Mountain".

Although it looked like a heavily obese disabled person while asleep, when it was awake it was anything but slow, even capable of slapping a Tank aside with a single palm.

Just then, a noise came from the entrance, and the ear that hung on its big head, which looked like a pig’s, perked up. Half-awake, Ollon lifted half an eyelid and murmured heavily while snoring, "What’s going on?"

This was one of its special abilities; only half of its brain awoke, while the other half remained asleep.

Standing at the entrance of the cave, the middle-aged man cloaked in white robes spoke in a flat, unemotional voice.

"I’ve brought you good news."

Ollon grunted expressionlessly.

"Speak."

The man said deliberately, "You’ll have a feast soon."

Ollon chuckled deeply, like a low growling Dragon.

"I’m really looking forward to that."

Then it closed its half-open eye again, seemingly slipping back into deep sleep.

The man nodded and vanished from the entrance as if he had never been there.

The sleeping Ollon opened its eyes; a hint of impatience flashed through its amber pupils.

Although many in the tribe called that human the "Beast King", it didn’t like that pretentious guy much.

Clearly, it was the real Beast King!

The only pity was that the guy was transparent.

Whether it threw stones at him or spat, everything would just pass through him.

If that fellow had a physical body, it would have chewed him up already!

...

While human soldiers and mutants on the northern frontline were busy eating, General Yiselle and his ten thousand subordinates, who boarded the wrong ship to Baiyue Strait, also finally got to eat their first hot meal.

Clutching a golden-yellow, stick-shaped "bread" and eating it greasily, Yiselle couldn’t help but ask, "What is this?"

"Fried Dough Stick."

Glancing at the guy who hadn’t seen much of the world, Fang Chang said succinctly while standing on the dock, "Remember, this is your first meal after landing, and from now on, this place is called Fried Dough Stick Port."

Yesterday noon, the Jungle Corps dispatched a team to venture deep into the jungles of the South Shore to eradicate the local Variants and, in coordination with the Goblin Corps’ W-2H seaplanes, took down at least five nests.

By noon today, the soldiers of the Expeditionary Army had landed on the south shore of the Baiyue Strait, setting up a camp on the beach and, in coordination with the construction team from French Fries Hill, erected a makeshift wooden dock along the shore, stringing up an underwater isolation net.

By evening, the supply ships from Potato Harbor had finally arrived before these soldiers could go hungry, bringing with them the fried dough sticks.

Unexpectedly, the Alliance even sent bread for them to eat, causing great excitement among the Rat Soldiers. Once they got their rations, they all wolfed the food down voraciously.

In Poluo Province, bread was a food only citizens with a respectable job could afford; most people were eating dirt and beans.

Although the bread was a bit too oily, no one complained. Instead, they were moved to tears by the Alliance’s generosity.

Not just those soldiers, but even the officers born as citizens had never seen such greasy bread.

Although some delicacies from City of Dawn had appeared in Jinjialun Port, due to factors like closed borders and distance, the Alliance’s culinary culture hadn’t penetrated the heartland of Poluo Province, spreading only in a small area around Jinjialun Port and its vicinity.

Even the more worldly officers couldn’t stand eating dry rations at sea for two weeks, and everyone’s mouth was about to become bland as a bird’s.

Even the less refined Ten Thousand Leader Yiselle didn’t have very elegant table manners, chewing and swallowing vigorously while mumbling with a mouth dripping with oil.

"Thanks... We’ll remember your help, and after the war is over, I’ll say a few good words to His Majesty on your behalf."

Fang Chang chuckled and didn’t take his tough talk seriously, continuing in a bureaucratic tone,

"Don’t mention it; you did well today, this is the reward you deserve. Starting from tomorrow, we will arrange new tasks for you, including barracks construction and road construction, and so on... If your performance meets our expectations, we will pay you a salary."

Hearing Fang Chang, Yiselle was initially stunned, then suddenly became angry and said,

"Wait a minute! We’re here to fight, not to help you build a port!"

He understood the need to construct a dock.

After all, people could swim ashore holding onto logs, but supplies would be ruined if they got into the sea. Thousands of people needed to eat, and they couldn’t rely on just a small boat to transport everything ashore.

He could even understand building barracks, as his people needed a place to live.

But what’s the deal with constructing roads?

It’s like they’ve been brought in to clear the land!

But although his mouth was unusually tough, he never stopped the chewing motion.

Fang Chang chuckled.

"Then you better check the bill."

Yiselle was dumbfounded.

"Bill?"

Fang Chang rolled his eyes.

"That’s right, you didn’t think the food was free, did you?"

Upon hearing this, Yiselle nearly dropped his dough stick onto the sand, hastily taking it and speaking in a rushed manner,

"Wait a minute, aren’t you the ones... who said you’d take care of our supplies? Where’s the commitment you made on the supply contract?"

Fang Chang patiently explained,

"We did promise to take care of your supplies, but that’s not for free. Besides, I’ve asked around, and your Emperor indeed topped up your meal cards, but the money is charged at the Weifu Military Base cafeteria. We are at least 1000 kilometers from Weifu Military Base, so we can’t possibly ask them to come over just to set up a stove for you."

Yiselle was frustrated.

"What’s the difference? Isn’t it all your settlements?"

Fang Chang held back the urge to roll his eyes, patiently explaining once more.

"What do you mean, ’what’s the difference’? French Fries Harbor is French Fries Harbor, Weifu is Weifu. Can you understand that different matters are handled separately?"

Talking to this guy about rules was too exhausting.

Looking at General Yiselle, who still appeared clueless, Fang Chang took a deep breath and decided to switch to a different method of communication.

"Listen, we’re not the kind philanthropic Manager, nor are we a charity. If you want to eat, you’ve got to pay. If you don’t have the money, we can lend it to you, we might even generously drop the interest, but you must repay the debt our way. Otherwise, let your majesty send the money, or find another way yourselves. Don’t expect us to support you for free."

Yiselle’s face turned from pale to ashen in his anger, wishing he could draw a gun and point it at this guy’s head.

But recalling that his majesty’s most elite Grey Wolf Army had already been thoroughly beaten by this guy, and behind him was only a bunch of Mouse People, he could only swallow his anger.

Watching General Yiselle remain silent, Fang Chang suddenly thought of something and let out a chuckle.

"Cheer up. Actually, this isn’t all bad. If you knew the situation on the northern front, you’d be thanking me."

Yiselle asked reflexively.

"What happened to the northern front? Has the fighting started?"

Fang Chang didn’t answer his question but instead asked with a smile.

"Do you know a guy named Modrick?"

Yiselle immediately replied.

"A Thousand Leader under General Babita! I know him, what about him?"

"What about him?" Fang Chang said with a faint smile and continued, "Last night, he and his subordinates were reborn."

The Army had fired two 400mm heavy artillery shells. Judging from the explosion, it was either thermobaric bombs or something similar. In any case, the power was astonishing.

Although it was only moderately effective against the mutants underneath the mountains, that one shell had blown everyone on that hillside, dead or alive, into the air.

Babita claimed that the guy named Modrick died in battle against the mutants.

However, players from the Death Corps clearly saw that when the shell fell, there were still some people fighting on the hill.

Those people didn’t seem like ordinary soldiers, more like officers of some sort.

After all, how low the morale of the Rat Soldiers was, they had seen it too.

The unfortunate’s name appeared between the lines in official Forum discussion threads, but only a few brief mentions.

Fang Chang did not sympathize with the guy—after all, he didn’t know him, nor did he care—but he felt this man before him was ignorant of his own best interests.

The survivors in Jinjialun Port didn’t have to thank Fang Chang, as Baiyue Corporation’s actions there were more of a business deal, using advanced methods and technologies in exchange for the local labor. Without them, those people could survive on eating dirt, at most suffering what they deserved.

But for these people, he had pulled them from Hell’s Gate, so they wouldn’t end up in the meat grinder like the Clones.

Yet, he was being picky and choosy.

"If you still want to eat breakfast tomorrow, then do as we say."

After dropping this line, Fang Chang shook his head and walked towards the dock.

Watching his retreating figure, Yiselle swallowed, feeling the heat of sweat on his back while his palms grew cold.

In the moment he heard about Modrick’s fate, he suddenly felt that getting on the wrong ship wasn’t so bad after all...

Not far away, a few Rat-men Cannon Fodder exchanging helpless glances were actually thinking about something else.

Breakfast?

What is breakfast?