Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 522 - 505: How Could That Be the Same?

Chapter 522: Chapter 505: How Could That Be the Same?

Mouth King surprisingly didn’t leave, which both Li Wenhao and Urbanization found unexpected.

What was he still doing here?

Soon, they understood.

Because Mouth King began to dish out his strategic advice.

"Not to burst your bubble, buddy, but didn’t you just criticize me? Is your production line built so well?

"You said I had no plan—so what have you planned?

"Putting a manufacturing plant in this spot, what’s the point? It’s clearly miles away from the nearest minefield."

After typing all this, Mouth King was smug, reveling in the joy Li Wenhao had felt before when he was the one giving tips.

Excellent!

Now that he was the opposition party, he could attack these two without any burden—it was like standing on invincible ground.

However, Mouth King soon found that things weren’t going as he had anticipated.

Because the two people in the game were utterly unfazed by his attempts at sowing discord.

Li Wenhao didn’t speak at all since he was busy managing his operations.

But there was a response, not verbal, but through actions which explained his own.

The reason for first constructing a manufacturing plant in the middle of an open area was because he was planning a new industrial zone there.

The reason it was far from the resource mines was that this industrial zone didn’t start with the lowest-level resources. Instead, it directly used advanced resources from the storage to produce goods. It was the "end" of three lower-level industrial areas, hence built closer to all three.

As unnecessary conveyor belts and redundant buildings were dismantled, new equipment was installed as upgrades.

Soon, the new industrial zone was up and running, everything operating smoothly and orderly.

Urbanization, who had a bit more free time, didn’t indulge him. After all, there was still time for typing between completing the tasks of a leader.

"Not to be rude, buddy, but if you’re going to criticize, at least try to understand what we’re doing, right?

"Don’t you feel embarrassed now?

"If you’re inexperienced, just practice more—don’t stand here watching us. Go on, play by yourself. Learn the game before you try to give advice."

Mouth King was stunned. Wait a minute, that wasn’t what you said when you told me off before, was it?

Come on, weren’t we once partners in crime? How could you switch sides so quickly?

This isn’t right, I must have approached this the wrong way.

Mouth King thought about it and realized that maybe his earlier comments were a bit rushed.

Clearly, Li Wenhao’s industrial zone planning made sense, it was just that Mouth King hadn’t seen it at first. His hasty speech had left him looking cowardly.

Next time, he thought, pointing out a clear issue should do the trick.

With that thought, Mouth King stopped talking for a while, quietly waiting for another opportunity.

Luckily, the chance came quickly. About ten minutes later, Mouth King saw Li Wenhao start to work on a messy, half-finished industrial zone.

It seemed that the new industrial area needed a special kind of mineral capacity, which the old one had in excess.

So Li Wenhao had to rerun a production line from the old industrial area to transport the surplus.

Mouth King immediately realized that this was a perfect opportunity for a "tit for tat."

"Look at this, you said my production line was a mess— yours is just as chaotic, isn’t it?

"When you’re racing against the clock, it’s impossible for these lines to be perfect, right?"

But the next second, Urbanization sent over another "hard to stretch" emoji.

"Did you lose your memory or what? This is the mess you created before!

"You’ve forgotten what you built yourself?"

Mouth King was taken aback.

Huh?

I built this?

With a puzzled mind, he took a closer look and, to his vague recognition, saw some familiar patterns.

What was going on?

It was simple; Mouth King had never followed a fixed routine while building. Most of the time, he built whatever he felt like.

Therefore, each of the industrial zones Li Wenhao worked on had a bit of his own style. Mouth King could usually distinguish his own handiwork.

Mouth King was different; his conveyors might go this way once, then another time, scatter off in a different direction. His construction was quite random, lacking those distinctive, recognizable features.

Having been out of the game for a while, his memory had become even fuzzier.

Of course, another important point was that Li Wenhao had remodeled this mess to some extent after taking over, so it had undergone significant changes from the original.

As a result, Mouth King had not realized that this mess was of his own making.

Now, that was awkward.

Mouth King felt indignant and angry.

Are you saying you never placed anything randomly while building?

Look!

However, after scouring the map for a while, Mouth King fell silent again.

Actually, he did find some poorly built areas, and Li Wenhao might have even built some parts of them himself.

But the problem was, he couldn’t tell...

Mouth King’s previously built industrial districts were not centralized in one location, but scattered around various resource mines, and some were crudely connected by conveyor belts.

After Li Wenhao took over, he could only begin to build on this framework. While he did construct some new industrial districts, the old industrial areas were still a complicated mess.

Mouth King could not distinguish which ones he had built and which ones were built by Li Wenhao.

Wasn’t this awkward?

Obviously, his attempts to attack Li Wenhao’s site selection, or the planning of Li Wenhao’s production lines, had both failed...

Mouth King was even more dissatisfied, why should it be?

In that case, he would have to resort to more extreme methods!

According to gameplay mechanics, conflict naturally existed between the Head of State and the Governor, with the Governor able to underreport, while the Head of State could impose a variety of policy restrictions on the Governor.

Li Wenhao had previously exploited this to ignite the conflict between Mouth King and Urbanization.

Mouth King thought, if he could do it, so could I.

"Oh, the data has increased by this much, huh? All the previous targets have been smoothly reached? How coincidental."

He started with a little jab.

Mouth King’s meaning was quite clear, implying that Li Wenhao had also underreported data.

How else could one explain the significant increase in data since he left?

Moreover, achieving every target smoothly is unscientific, as targets are typically set higher than normal when they are established.

According to Mouth King, it was difficult to achieve without underreporting.

However, after these words were spoken, they vanished like a stone sinking into the ocean, leaving no trace.

Neither Li Wenhao nor Urbanization responded.

There was no need to mention Li Wenhao; he was very busy with continuous construction of new buildings and handling new affairs.

And Urbanization, the main target of provocation, did not speak immediately.

It was only after some time that they responded as if it were a matter of course: "Dude, I don’t get what you’re saying.

"What else?

"After you left, we built so many new production lines, of course, the materials would increase significantly.

"Besides, isn’t it normal for targets to be met successfully? Did you think everyone built their industrial areas without any planning and in complete disarray like you?"

Mouth King was shocked. What the hell?

This wasn’t right. When you sent inspectors to supervise me, it was righteous and meant to share the workload; but now you’re sending inspectors to supervise him, and you don’t say a word?

Mouth King checked the technology tree and realized that up to this point, other than the inspector system he had activated during his time, no other options had been selected.

"It’s not like that, man!

"Double standards, huh?

"What happened to sharing the Governor’s workload that you talked about?"

Mouth King found this hard to accept.

Urbanization responded confidently, "I certainly can share the Governor’s workload, but he’s doing quite well, clearly he doesn’t need sharing."

Mouth King: "Didn’t you say that these technologies would only make cooperation more transparent and efficient, that they would allow us to build better mutual trust and eliminate doubts?

"Weren’t you the one saying that refusing to be inspected means having something to hide?

"Why is it different now?"

Urbanization: "Ah, right, refusing inspection does mean having something to hide, but it’s not that he’s refusing inspection, it’s that I think it’s unnecessary.

"It’s still different.

"Technology does help make cooperation more transparent and efficient, but I think we’re already quite transparent and efficient, so the technology points aren’t much of help now.

"Moreover, he’s handling the role of the Governor well on his own, he certainly doesn’t need my help.

"As Head of State, I’ve got a lot on my plate already, so I won’t interfere."

Mouth King was even more shocked.

These were my own words!

Clearly, at this point, Mouth King’s role was in complete reversal with Urbanization; they were arguing entirely from the previous stances of the other.

Mouth King had shifted from the Governor’s position to that of the Head of State, while Urbanization had done the exact opposite, shifting from the Head of State’s position to the Governor’s.

But the problem was, Urbanization was still the Head of State!

Mouth King: "But you didn’t say this before! Why is it that when I was the Governor and when he’s the Governor, your attitude is completely different?"

Urbanization: "Can it be the same?"

Mouth King was astounded, a classic example of double standards!

But Urbanization obviously didn’t see it as double standards.

"Because you two are indeed different! What kind of mess were your production lines? Chaotic and unplanned, am I wrong to doubt your competence?

"As for his abilities, just one glance shows they’re incredible, so why would I intervene?

"I have only one standard, that is to assess the competence of the Governor. If it’s high, I don’t intervene; if it’s low, I do, it’s that simple. Is that hard to understand?"

This retort truly infuriated Mouth King.

Anyone else reading their exchange would probably think Urbanization made a lot of sense.

But Mouth King was not just anyone, he didn’t consider the other side to be rational and justified, he only saw hypocrisy.

And this multiplied Mouth King’s fury several-fold.