"NO!!! I don’t believe this! I don’t accept it! This isn’t real!!!"
Office No. 404 in Stone City, in the newly renovated living room on the third floor.
When she saw the photo Si Si had risked his life to take, Teng Teng let out a brief cry of disillusionnt.
After she had thrown down those words, she ran back to her room like a gust of wind and slamd the door shut.
On the wooden coffee table, a kerosene lamp gently flickered, casting long shadows from the mutated fruit and squirrel cookies piled on the iron plate.
The four people sitting at the table looked at each other.
Sesa Paste said with a flushed face, "It actually looks pretty good?"
He had intended to console Teng Teng with that remark.
But it seed like she had been brewing it for a bit too long.
Si Si grimaced slightly, "Emmm... I can’t deny it, but maybe this kind of beauty isn’t the effect Teng Teng wanted."
"It seems I’m not the only one who thinks that the clothes are designed very boldly," Crow murmured quietly after staring at the photo for a while, "and here I was seriously reflecting on whether I was being too dirty-minded."
Tail had a sudden thought.
"Could it be that Teng Teng actually has a talent she hasn’t discovered in herself?"
Si Si advised.
"You better not say that to her, though."
Tail: "Awoooo!"
Glancing at the tightly closed wooden door, Sesa Paste said with so worry,
"...But really, it’s okay?"
Si Si: "Emmm... Are you talking about Teng Teng or Old White and Fang Chang?"
Sesa Paste: "Huh?"
Crow quickly understood Si Si’s aning and waved his hand, "Don’t worry, Teng Teng is very generous! She won’t hold a grudge!"
Really?
A subtle smile tugged at the corner of Si Si’s mouth as he quietly got up from the sofa, stretched and said,
"I’m a bit sleepy, I’m going to log off first."
But it was just a façade.
He wasn’t sleepy at all.
He mainly wanted to check out the hot topics on the forum.
Their pre-bedti chat had ended prematurely.
In the world of the ga, it was already nine o’clock at night, and in the real world, it was precisely nine in the morning. Having been lying down since six o’clock the previous evening, it was ti to get up and move around a bit.
Sesa Paste picked up a plate of squirrel cookies and stood up.
"I’ll bring so to at at."
at at, being a "pet," could only stay with the Double-headed Cow, wasn’t allowed to roam the streets freely, and couldn’t live on the residential streets.
Luckily, this place wasn’t far from the storage area; otherwise, it would be too pitiful.
Tail, who had been lying on the table and yawning, had planned to go to sleep but sprang to his feet, his eyes gleaming as he heard about feeding at at.
"I’ll co with you!"
...
Official Forum.
Today was as bustling as ever.
Brother Mole was colorfully narrating anecdotes from his journey in a thread, supplented with several illustrations he had drawn himself.
When they passed through Garbage City, they encountered a group of rcenaries claiming to be from the Chewing Bone Tribe, not only wielding Army weapons but also possessing a Conqueror tank.
Due to language barriers among other reasons, it wasn’t until they had captured these rcenaries that they realized these people were not from the Chewing Bone Tribe after all, but rcenaries in disguise.
The reason they claid to be from the Chewing Bone Tribe was to extort money from passing comrcial teams. And that "Conqueror" tank turned out to be made of wood...
Aside from Brother Mole’s entertaining posts, there were other intriguing threads.
Elena and Scrambled Tomatoes were cross-server sharing cooking tips, Makabazi was sharing how he used the "Plant Speaker" Talent to communicate with plants—sothing so outrageous it made Bored Tiger call it preposterous.
There were also discussions on growing tobacco and corn, debates on how to make piston-driven aircraft engines with simple materials, and exchanges on efficient ways to prepare Black Gold and Polyisobutylene.
Just then, a line of posts suddenly appeared in the forum.
Teng Teng: @"White Horse Passing a Gap@Long Days Ahead@..."
Night Ten: "What’s up? Why tag ? If you miss , just say it. (joking)"
Teng Teng: "Miss you my foot! Show your weapons! (╯‵□′)✄╰ひ╯"
Old White: "?"
Fang Chang: "??"
Wild Wind: "???"
Night Ten: "!!!∑(ﾟДﾟノ)ノ"
Elena: "Shocked, what have you done to cute Teng Teng? (joking)"
Gno King Riches: "Shocked, is this a distortion of human nature or a degeneration of morals? (joking)"
Just as everyone was perplexed about this post, guessing what had happened, Crow suddenly appeared.
Crow: "Hahaha, let show you sothing good. o(*≧▽≦)ツ (picture) (picture) (picture)"
Crow: "Huh??? It didn’t work last ti, how did it actually pass the review this ti?"
Canyon Escape Mole: "Damn! Isn’t this more explicit than what I drew?!"
Debt Giant Eye: "(nosebleed)"
Spring Water Commander: "I gotta ask, is this content available without paynt?"
Teng Teng: "You LSPs! This clothing is not ant to be used in this kind of situation, okay? Doesn’t it feel weird? (╯°Д°)╯︵┻━┻"
Night Ten: "Uh? Although this is an accident, I feel... it unexpectedly seems quite fitting?"
Teng Teng: "Drop dead! (angry)"
Night Ten: "QAQ"
It proved that genuine chatting could never match the enthusiasm evoked by provocative posts.
A few photos instantly increased the number of pre-registered players.
Even more effective than a promotional PV!
Although Crow Boss quickly deleted the post under threats from Teng Teng, thanks to the internet users’ quick reflexes, the photos were already saved.
As the forum posts were wildly swamped, the small group at the Cow Horse Club was buzzing as well.
Night Ten: "Damn! Didn’t that damned NPC say that Teng Teng’s artworks were bought by the nobles of the Inner City? How co it appeared in a nightclub!"
Wild Wind: "I thought about it carefully, that NPC didn’t actually say that. (sideways glance)"
Fang Chang: "Bla , it was my assumption that it sold to the Inner City... I figured rcenaries wouldn’t buy such impractical clothing, residents of the outer city couldn’t afford it, it could only be bought by the nobles of the Inner City, never thought it would end up in a nightclub, my bad. (awkward)"
Indeed, Fang Chang was to bla, got carried away while writing the strategy, hyped it up too much.
If it weren’t for setting such high expectations, the disappointnt wouldn’t have been as big.
Hopefully, Teng Teng isn’t too disheartened.
But actually, think about it.
Soft power needs the support of hard power.
The Stone City has been the top dog in the southern part of the River Valley Province for a century, not just in the North Suburb, even the survivor settlents of the entire River Valley don’t look much different from rural villages in their eyes.
Unless these clothes are worn by the rchants of Ideal City.
But Fang Chang always felt, convincing the people of the Stone City Inner City to accept new things might be even more challenging.
Old White: "Major social death scene here, I dare not even comnt. (awkward)"
Night Ten: "@Light, Brother Guang, save ! Teng Teng is going to kill soone! Please put out a notice to divert everyone’s attention! QAQ"
Light: "Okay. (sideways glance)"
Old White: "!!"
Fang Chang: "!!!"
Quit Smoking: "Damn! Ah Guang, are you his real dad?!"
Wild Wind: "Ah Guang really was lurking. (sideways glance)"
Night Ten: "Ah Guang, boss you’re aweso! (excited)"
Quit Smoking: "Co on, you’re sucking up too much, I can’t even watch!"
Night Ten: "Get lost! How is this sucking up? This is heartfelt gratitude!"
Scrambled Eggs with Tomato: "Ugh ugh ugh!"
Closing the group chat, Chu Guang logged onto the Forum to get a gist of what had happened.
Although it slightly differed from his expected script, how should he put it?
He felt it wasn’t entirely a bad thing.
Although Teng Teng’s Vine Cottage artworks didn’t conquer the hearts of the Inner City people, they at least conquered the nights of the Stone City.
Even the nobles of Stone City Inner City can’t live in pomp every night. Even emperors sneak out of the palace for fun sotis, what more the courtiers?
Usually, they just wouldn’t let the commonality know.
Plus those rcenaries and rchants who made a fortune from trade, if the little players’ "artworks" could beco popular among them, you never know, these commodities might even sell farther away.
It would be a broader market.
And this was a good start.
"Seeing as he called dad, I’ll release the announcent a day earlier."
Watching the Cow Horse team being chased by Teng Teng, Chu Guang couldn’t help but chuckle and clicked the mouse.
Just as the forum users and LSPs were avidly sharing the photos taken by Si Si, a notice suddenly popped up.
[Wasteland OL Closed Beta Server Alpha1.1 Version Update Notice.]
There was not the slightest hint of what was coming.
Each update of "Wasteland OL" always caught everyone off guard.
One mont, everyone was exchanging studying materials, and the next, their entire focus was drawn to this significant news.
[Major Updates:
1. The number of players in closed beta increased to 1500.
2. The "Wave system"!
]
[Optimizations:
1. More enriched NPC shops, now opening purchases for neural connection equipnt, the basic unmanned scout vehicle requires an intelligence attribute over 15.
2. The ga’s season shifts to spring, with more vegetation and wildlife, while nights will no longer be safe!
3. Fixed a small number of bugs.
4....
]
["Wave" system detailed explanation: The suitable environnt within city areas will lead to the rapid reproduction of mutated sli fungus; when the spore concentration in the air reaches a certain threshold, it will cause probability-based mutations in stable hatcheries, forming new lairs. It is predicted that the wave will occur within the next two weeks, please prepare yourselves, as this might be the most severe test since the server launch!]
[New NPC joins: Yu Hu from Bet Street will join Shelter No. 404, as an experienced, calm hunter proficient in crafting traps and tracking ga.]
[Additionally, the Hunter Guild is officially established, with the first president to be held by Yu Hu, congratulations to hunter players for having their organization now!]
[Developer’s Log: Alpha1.1 Version]
Light: "Hello everyone, this new version has not co easily. Actually, we initially planned the version number to be 1.01, but since our potato supplier has been powerful enough, we now have more potatoes... I an server resources."
"In any case, the new version will bring 400 lucky individuals, the announcent for the internal testing qualifications will be a bit delayed, expected to be made public after tomorrow’s launch."
"All staff of the ’Wasteland OL’ ga production team promises you, although we are still in the early stages of our startup, we will still do our utmost to provide as many gaming experiences to the players in closed beta, and make the ga world as complete as possible. The much-awaited public beta version will also arrive at the ultimate stage of ga developnt."
"In fact, we already have a specific titable, but it involves corporate secrets, so it is not convenient to disclose."
"Next is about the new version’s introduction, we have introduced a new concept in the ga — the Wave. Although in the early stages of the ga, our players mostly regarded the people of Wasteland as their opponents, the real threats are not just those ard with firearms Wasteland Wanderers, but also those terrifying mutant organisms. Having laid dormant all winter, they are now famished, whether the Claws of Death or the sli fungus."
"During the Wave period, the mutated sli fungus will proliferate crazily, high concentrations of spores may even form a fog-like spore cloud in the air. Ingesting too much can lead to respiratory infections, and even partial tissue lesions, it’s advised for players with low constitution to wear gas masks when delving into the city areas, and even players with high constitution should not take it lightly."
"Searching and clearing is the only way to end the Wave, we cannot expect them to simply vanish on their own, nor can we stand idly by and watch them destroy the hos we’ve built with our own hands."
"Therefore, the ’Hunter Guild’ is born!"
"Accept the Hunter profession, search for the spore release source, and eliminate potential dangers to receive generous rewards and unlock rare achievents and dals!"
"Information on the Lair, incubation chambers, and mutated sli fungus has been updated in the official website’s database. For more details about gaplay, please explore within the Ga itself!"
...
The first day the new version went live.
The number of Hunter players doubled instantly.
Apart from the players with lifestyle professions showing little reaction, nearly all combat professional players registered themselves as mbers of the Hunter Guild by adding the Hunter profession to their profiles.
As President of the Hunter Guild, Yu Hu did not disappoint the players. Using the budget allocated by Chu Guang, he sourced experienced Hunters from Bet Street to teach players hunting and tracking skills and organized them to head to Qingquan City for a search mission.
Over 200 Hunter players ford more than 50 teams, and from Garden Street tro Station, they spread out carpet-like in three different directions towards the area from the fifth to the fourth ring roads of Qingquan City, searching for the sources of spore releases.
The combat and recovery abilities of the Mucor species Variants directly correlated with the spore density in the air. When the spore cloud reduced ground-level light to a certain degree, even dayti would no longer be safe.
Stopping the ’Tide’ in its cradle was not very realistic; most Variants that constituted the ’Tide’ ca from fully developed Lairs, which were usually located in the city center, the oldest even having over a century of history.
However, if they could locate a mutating incubation chamber and destroy it before it ford a new Lair, it would undoubtedly reduce the spore density in the air significantly, thereby weakening the strength of the ’Tide’ and the combat power of the Eaters.
This was Heya’s conjecture.
It was also the first task Chu Guang assigned to the Hunter Guild.
As the combat professional players advanced into the urban areas of Qingquan City, the exit of floor B3 of Shelter No. 404 was bustling.
A few Strength Type and Body Constitution System players were dragging pinstcarriages, moving one cultivation chamber after another from the shelter into the tunnel outside the exit.
These cultivation chambers were lined up in front of the gatehouse, and not far from them, a truck that had just been assembled recently was parked.
It was the latest work from Goblin Technology.
Since the respected Manager placed the order, this truck also, fortunately, received a sowhat normal na—"Electric donkey."
True to its na, this was a purely electric truck. From its appearance, it was primarily modeled after the Army’s light trucks, only with extended cargo length and the cal engine replaced with batteries and a motor.
The entire vehicle’s structure featured a steel driver’s cabin and wooden body typical layout, weighing a total of 4.3 tons, with four wheels and nearly a 5-ter-long body. The engine’s maximum output power could reach 80 horsepower, with a rated maximum load of 1.8 tons, though overloading up to 3 tons wasn’t much of a problem!
Apart from zero emissions, excellent endurance, and minimal noise, the vehicle had outstanding off-road capabilities. Its high chassis design could readily adapt to rugged terrain.
Moreover, the reserved connectors on the truck’s front could be used to weld bulletproof plates and machine guns.
The wooden panels on both sides of the cargo space were also designed to open outward, which could easily mount a quad anti-aircraft gun on the truck.
Whenever needed, this dium transport truck could instantly transform into an ard truck!
Not only did it have a dominant appearance and versatile use, but the technical content of this truck was equally high.
Its energy storage component consisted of 102 Series-connected KV-1 model solid hydrogen batteries, totaling 102 kilograms, installed at the rear of the truck, easy to dismantle and replace.
And this was also the first order that List Factory received from the shelter since it started production!
Unlike fuel trucks, electric trucks have a relatively simple structure, with the core technology mainly focused on energy storage; there aren’t significant technological challenges in the power components.
Apart from the battery, other components, including the motor, are mostly developed in-house by various workshops and factories in the industrial district.
If one were to point out a single drawback of this truck, it would be the inconvenience of obtaining energy.
Unlike machines that burn wood, the truck uses a "Battery Group No. 102", which is quite expensive, with a production cost of 12,000 silver coins for just one set.
Moreover, outside the shelter, electricity is primarily generated by thermal power, which ultimately still involves burning wood. Before the improvent in the energy structure, the electric truck would actually consu more wood due to the added process of energy conversion.
However, given the ventilation environnt inside the tunnel, this choice was unavoidable. After all, it was impossible to bring the wood-burning truck underground.
If they truly did that, they would likely not run for long before everyone succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning.
"How much does this truck cost?"
Silver Sword, who had just set down the cultivation chamber, wiped the sweat off his forehead and couldn’t help but wonder aloud as he looked at the nearby truck.
Standing next to him, Silver Daddy chuckled mischievously and said,
"I don’t know, but I do know for sure you can’t afford it."
Silver Sword: "Damn, why would I buy this thing? I’m just curious, is that not allowed?"
Silver Hand: "I’m more curious about where these cultivation chambers are being sent."
After pondering for a mont, Silver Sword said, "Probably to Shelter No. 117!"
"Shelter No. 117?" Silver Hand asked in surprise, "Why send them there?"
Silver Daddy: "Are you dumb? Besides those 100 or so rooms on level B, does Shelter No. 404 have any space left? If the operator doesn’t open a new server, they’ll have to shift the resurrection point for new players to other shelters!"
Silver Hand: "Shit, does that an we’re the last batch of players at Shelter No. 404?"
Silver Sword: "Not necessarily, what if they open a fourth floor? That’s another 600 brothers... but this ga is too realistic, even the resurrection points need to be physically transported by the old players."
Silver Daddy sighed, "Indeed, it’s damn realistic... I’m both a player and a dad, and I never had to worry this much in other gas."
The mont he said that, both of them rolled their eyes at him.
Thinking about their usernas made them aggravated, so they decided to ignore the jackass for an hour.
...
cultivation chambers had been displayed in the tunnel.
The "Electric Donkey" dium transport would deliver these cultivation chambers in eight runs at a pace of 50 each to Shelter No. 117 located below the Garden Street tro Station.
Thanks to the continuous efforts of the players, the tunnel from Shelter No. 404 to Shelter No. 117 had been completely cleared of mutant creatures and hatcheries.
The entire tunnel, stretching 7 kiloters, would take an hour to walk; however, riding on Iron Horse 60 at an average speed of 30 yards per minute would only take about a dozen minutes.
New players will have Shelter No. 117, located beneath the Garden Street tro Station, as their resurrection point.
There, a controlled fusion reactor and wireless power supply facilities would provide power to the cultivation chambers.
Shelter No. 117 had comprehensive living facilities, and the underground tunnel connected directly to Shelter No. 404, making transportation very convenient.
Additionally, Outpost Base and Changjiu Farm had been equipped with 200 sleep pods and a public inn that offered lying-down services to accommodate players’ offline needs.
As for the managent of the newbies, there was no need to worry.
After obtaining the managent rights for Shelter No. 117, the entire shelter’s managent system had been connected to the main server of Shelter No. 404.
Chu Guang had granted so of his administrative privileges to Xiao Qi.
With virtually no blind spots in the shelter’s cara coverage, as long as sothing occurred within the signal range of the shelter, Xiao Qi could monitor the situation at any ti.
In case of any ergencies, Xiao Qi would notify him imdiately.
To ensure foolproof security, Chu Guang even bestowed it with ergency handling authority.
In situations involving moderate to severe violations, Xiao Qi could directly cut off power to specific cultivation chambers as per the managent regulations, then report the "malfunction."
The entire process would be completed within 2 to 3 fras, recorded in the shelter managent regulations as the "Circuit Breaker chanism."
To put it bluntly, it was like pulling the plug.
Having spent the entire morning, with the cooperation of players and NPCs, the four hundred cultivation chambers were finally delivered to Shelter No. 117 and placed in separate rooms.
After completing these tasks, Chu Guang imdiately started the synthesis program to generate clones for the players.
These four hundred newbies would log on in three days, half of them as combat professional players and the other half as lifestyle profession players.
The battle against the Variants tested not only the shelter’s combat power but also its logistical abilities.
Chu Guang needed not only a large number of combat professional players to fill the front lines but also needed bullets and shells to be continuously delivered to the front.
Only by doing so could the safety of the rear be ensured.
Chu Guang had high hopes for this batch of fresh rookies.
Looking at the door of Shelter No. 117, dressed in the previous manager’s power armor, he said with a satisfied smile,
"If nothing unexpected happens, this should be the last batch of players for the B-round tests."
"If the idea of shipping cultivation chambers to other shelters as resurrection points works, we could focus on scouting for shelter information in the future."
Just then, Xiao Qi’s voice interrupted his thoughts through the communication channel.
"Master!"
Before Chu Guang could ask what the matter was, Xiao Qi continued,
"The players you sent to scout around the fifth ring road seem to have discovered sothing incredible..."
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