Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 514 - 497: Fire Dragon Burns the Warehouse

Chapter 514: Chapter 497: Fire Dragon Burns the Warehouse

Suspicion naturally gave way to fractures of distrust.

Li Wenhao, after thorough analysis, had sorted out the cause and effect.

The political system’s technology tree contained many technologies that limited the power of governors, such as the supervisory system, secret reports from the grassroots, declarations of governors’ property, and even the direct trial of governors.

Of course, depending on the severity, these technologies could potentially have negative impacts.

Additionally, there were many technologies that could further enhance the power of governors, like high salaries or even direct rewards, allowing the governors to plan without following established criteria, or extending the timeline for achieving targets by several multiples.

Clearly, the existence of these technologies meant that governors could manipulate things behind the scenes.

If governors couldn’t operate in secret and the head of state saw only real data, then what would be the point of having technologies like secret reporting and a supervisory system?

In other words, the struggle between governors and the head of state was inevitable, irreconcilable, and could even be said to be part of the game.

"Nice one, Mouth King. I thought we were in perfect tandem, but it turns out you have no bottom line at all."

Li Wenhao was furious; for a time, he had truly trusted Mouth King.

But that trust had been betrayed.

There was no other choice but to enter the second round of battle!

Li Wenhao looked at the technology points and decisively clicked on one: the supervisory system.

The specific function of this supervisory system was for the head of state to appoint an auditor to review the financial situation of various construction units and then compile a summary.

This auditor was not played by a human player but was purely controlled by AI to carry out the operations.

At each location, this auditor would roughly calculate the real data of the place and collate it.

Of course, the entire process required some time; only after the loading bar completed could one see the specific data.

No sooner had he clicked on the technology point than new messages appeared in the long-silent chat box.

"??"

Another two question marks appeared all at once.

Li Wenhao didn’t indulge them, responding directly with two question marks: "??"

Mouth King: "Why would you waste money researching this useless technology point? Did I go to all this trouble mining so many resources just for you to use them like this?"

On the surface, the supervisory system’s technology point seemed to be just adding one or a few silicon-based figures to carry out tasks, but, in reality, it consumed a great deal of resources.

For instance, these figures themselves required a good education, had to be advanced financial personnel, commanded high salaries, and needed specialized transport when visiting various places.

All of these were reflected in the resources spent on developing the technology point.

Not to mention, each audit required additional resources.

Ideally, using these resources for infrastructure would be more cost-effective.

So, at first glance, Mouth King’s questions seemed logical and well-founded.

But with a chuckle, Li Wenhao shot back, "You don’t know why I chose this technology point?"

That one sentence left Mouth King at a loss for words.

Actually, as soon as Mouth King saw Li Wenhao choosing the technology point, he had an uneasy suspicion.

Could I have been exposed?

But he didn’t really believe it, since as far as he could see, this window for covert operations was displayed only to the governing players; the head of state players couldn’t see it.

He cleverly hadn’t reported excessively skewed data, just subtly adjusted both the income and expenses, ensuring the quantity of resources stockpiled roughly matched up.

If it were any ordinary player, who inherently trusted the system’s data, they wouldn’t notice the discrepancy at all.

Therefore, Mouth King considered it might be a coincidence, and so attempted to exert pressure to dissuade Li Wenhao from continuing to develop this technology point.

It was like a quarreling couple, where if one suspected infidelity, the cheating partner would counter with thunderous indignation.

The aim was to dispel the other’s suspicions through a display of force.

This tactic only worked when the other party was slightly suspicious and lacked concrete evidence; once there was proof, it was utterly ineffective.

Mouth King also realized that the other party’s confident selection of this technology point meant he had noticed something was off with the data.

But how exactly had he noticed?

He was too embarrassed to ask, so he kept silent and continued with his own affairs.

Soon, the development of the technology was complete.

The silicon-based little person representing the inspection officer, along with the entire inspection team, rode a special transport vehicle following Li Wenhao’s route, conducting inspections of the actual conditions of each major industry in sequence.

Mainly involved investigating the production of various mines, the actual consumption and output of manufacturing plants, and the real remaining quantity of materials in storage, to see how significant the discrepancy was compared to the figures currently being reported.

The first stop was an industrial zone that was the earliest to be established, comprising mines, smelting plants, and manufacturing plants. While they were all of the lowest grade, there was still some production of resources.

However, compared to other areas, this region was also the most chaotic.

The various conveyor belts and heating lines were a complete mess, resembling Silk Cave.

There was no helping it, after all, other industrial zones were essentially planned out from here. It was somewhat like many old industrial areas in large cities, intricate and complex, where pulling one thread could move the whole body.

If they got this area straightened out first, the rest would be easy to talk about.

The inspection officer and the review team entered the building complex, and at the same time, a circular progress bar appeared overhead, starting a countdown.

When the time was up, the data for this area would be clear, and they could move on to the next region.

However, just then, the environmental temperature happened to start rising.

Li Wenhao was startled and hurriedly looked at the trajectory chart of Comet, realizing it was once again approaching perihelion.

Originally, players could not see the trajectory chart, but with the development of technology, the astronomical observation capabilities of these silicon-based little people were also constantly improving. The establishment of various high-tech telescopes and observatories allowed players to more accurately grasp the current orbital position of Comet.

They could also respond to temperature changes more calmly.

So Li Wenhao wasn’t too panicked, since they had already experienced the high-temperature examination before, and all kinds of equipment and buildings were still in place.

Although the temperature would rise sharply, as long as there was enough reserved energy, handling this wave of high temperature was still not a problem.

Li Wenhao clicked a few options on the leader’s operating interface, including high-temperature warnings, improving cooling efficiency, increasing energy subsidies, and so on.

And Mouth King indeed began to take action.

He turned on the cooling systems for various areas and opened the warehouses to transport various refrigerants and reserved energy out...

However, compared to before, he seemed to be somewhat flustered this time.

"emmm..."

Li Wenhao wanted to say something or rush them, such as marking an exclamation point on the map or something.

But in the end, he didn’t do anything.

After all, he hated it when others pointed fingers during his time as a Judging Governor.

Moreover, there were too many buildings on the map now, and the amount of operations needed were naturally greater than before, so being a little slower was understandable.

So although Li Wenhao was also very anxious, almost wishing he could do it himself, he still held back in the end.

Soon, the temperature rose higher and higher.

Those areas that were well-prepared suffered no major issue; the temperature was controlled within a suitable range, and production was still going on smoothly.

But there were some regions without sufficient cooling measures that had already fallen into a state of production halt, and some even sparked flames.

"Wait, flames??"

Li Wenhao suddenly realized something was wrong, as one of the areas that caught fire was precisely the first industrial zone, which was where the inspection officer was conducting an investigation.

"Damn!"

Li Wenhao reacted, frantically signaling that location.

"Thump!"

"Thump, thump, thump!"

After several exclamation marks were sent, Mouth King seemed to finally respond, beginning to arrange for the nearby silicon-based little people to extinguish the fire.

But it was obviously too late, because in such a high-temperature environment, there were simply no remaining resources to use for disaster relief.

Moreover, the silicon-based little people could easily be engulfed by fire, causing even greater casualties.

There was no choice, Mouth King could only cut off several lines completely, creating a buffer zone, leaving that area to fend for itself.

In the end, the fire was extinguished, but the original buildings had become ruins.

Li Wenhao was speechless: "Are you doing this on purpose?"

Mouth King: "?"

"What do you mean doing it on purpose?"

Li Wenhao became even angrier: "Don’t play dumb with me! What era is it, and you’re still playing these Fire Dragon Burns Warehouse tricks?!"