The audience of the "PVP Arena" wasn’t just Chu Guang, Xia Yan, and the experts from Huge Rock Military Industry; there were also many "unrelated individuals."
Apart from the observation area that was equipped with various professional detection devices, there was also a "spectator stand" set up outside the military blockade zone, open to other players and technicians learning on-site, to gain new design inspirations.
The feed had a half-minute delay and would only cut off the broadcast in rare cases, but most of the ti, it was openly viewable.
Anyway, these devices would ultimately be sold to players for use; keeping them secret didn’t really make much difference. It was better to just bring them out clearly for these experts to observe.
If you have good ideas, you don’t have to hold back; you can talk about anything.
Players and backseat drivers do this every day on the forum, exchanging tips on anything from nest-making and swing techniques to army combat tactics, covering virtually every aspect of daily life in the Alliance.
Camp 101 had now beco the Alliance’s largest higher education institution; the experts here held technologies unattainable by players on Earth.
They naturally should discuss and exchange more, researching how to improve the productivity and production thods of the Alliance and exploring ways to make the Alliance stronger.
Of course—
Besides the serious technical discussions, there were inevitably so less formal activities.
"Damn it! I had to die first and I sure as hell did!"
"That outlaw maniac actually won!"
"Dove-type missiles have appeared, this is just too overpowered!"
" 1, the balance is just unreasonable; switch to RPG or Iron Fist Rocket Launcher and it would be more reasonable."
"Haha! What do you know! Is there such a thing as balance on a real battlefield? You bet, you lose, pay up quickly!"
"F**k! Give my money back!"
A bunch of rookies who bet wrong cursed and swore, while a few lucky ones held a dozen silver coins and popcorn and were overjoyed.
At this mont, both Outlaw Maniac and I’m Responsible for Dying First had no idea that they were being bet on by a bunch of idle folks.
It was a relief that the stakes were small.
Otherwise, they would definitely get a yellow card from dog planners.
In a corner of the spectator area.
Looking at the images on the screen, Alyssa’s heart was pounding, but she finally relaxed and looked worriedly at Little Fish sitting beside her.
"Are they... using real weapons?"
Since the completion of the transition from Giant Stone City Crisis Office to the new authorities, she had resigned from all her positions, including being in charge of asset liquidation, and followed Little Fish and Pai to Camp 101 to study the economics and managent sciences that interested her.
Out of gratitude for her recent work, the new authorities of Giant Stone City covered her tuition and living expenses.
In fact, she was not the only beneficiary of this policy, and she herself did not wish to be treated specially.
Later, under Pai’s persistent lobbying, Mayor Lovett, representing the Workers’ Association, consulted Chu Guang’s opinion. With the support of the Alliance, they took 20 million silver coins from the local financial budget of the city hall and established an educational fund to help young people of appropriate age for higher education living in the settlents who had received basic education to study more advanced knowledge at Camp 101.
Currently, nearly 300 young people from Giant Stone City are studying at Camp 101, including apprentices who had been engineers at Huge Rock Military Industry, assistants who served as cyborg doctors at the Black Clinic, as well as factory children from canneries or textile mills, and even children of residents from the Inner City.
The Workers’ Association fulfilled its promise and achieved equal treatnt in education, rather than replacing the old nobles to beco the new nobility.
Today just happened to be the live test of "DLZJ-1," and the Weapon Testing Center’s observation area offered free coffee and tea with no limit, and snacks like sunflower seeds, crackers, and desserts were for sale.
Many engineers and researchers at Camp 101 were interested in this new equipnt, and since it was Sister Xia’s masterpiece, Little Fish and Pai took Alyssa, who had just arrived here for studies, to join the excitent.
However, perhaps because she had lived in the greenhouse her father carefully created for her since she was young, Alyssa did not have the sa calmness as Little Fish, who grew up in the Wasteland when she saw the gunfire. Her small fists were clenched tight the entire ti.
"Yeah!"
Little Fish nodded vigorously, looking strangely at Alyssa’s worried face.
"Wouldn’t it be aningless to test with fakes?"
She was correct, of course.
But Alyssa still had a bad feeling about it, whispering worriedly,
"But... what if soone gets hurt?"
Little Fish tilted her head.
"Residents of Shelter No. 404 can’t get hurt."
"Can’t get hurt..." Alyssa stared blankly at her, unable to comprehend, and said, "How is that possible?"
Little Fish wrinkled her nose.
"It’s true, Little Fish never lies."
She wasn’t sure why they couldn’t get hurt, but she had witnessed with her own eyes people who had already been laid in coffins, only to stand in front of her lively and well again a few days later.
By the way, it wasn’t just regular residents; Lizards, Bears, Cats, and Pig people were the sa.
The residents of Shelter No. 404 are immortal, and although it’s an urban legend in the Alliance, she knew it was true.
Pai, standing next to Little Fish, had an expression with a subtle nuance.
"Well... I understand a bit, the idea of immortality is actually inaccurate, people die if they are killed, but in result, they really are immortal."
Alyssa stared blankly at the two, completely clueless about what they were discussing, but she couldn’t help but feel a sense of admiration when she looked at the two power armors on the holographic screen.
In order to provide more reliable equipnt for the Alliance soldiers, to improve others’ chances of survival, they risked their lives to test those dangerous weapons.
Such a group of respectable people!
"...If there were a safer way, that would be great."
Seeing Alyssa worrying too much, Little Fish thought for a mont before speaking.
"There’s no perfect solution, and Little Fish thinks that rather than kindly stopping them from their well-considered decisions, it’s better to respect their choices with admiration."
"Brother Chu once said that everyone, including himself, beca residents of Shelter No.404 only after clearly understanding their rights and responsibilities. If one day they beco weary or have regrets, they can return to the underground to hibernate and wait for the new world to co on its own."
Alyssa stared at the girl who was about her age.
After a long while, she managed to squeeze out a soft question from her lips.
"The Manager too...?"
If tired, one could go back to sleep at any ti.
Waiting for the awakening to a new world...
"Yes!" Little Fish nodded her head and proudly puffed out her chest, "Little Fish rembers every single word Brother Chu said!"
Sitting to the side, Pai sighed, her hands propping up her cheeks as she muttered morosely.
"I testify... this kid is almost becoming his parrot."
She didn’t fail to understand Little Fish’s respect for Chu Guang, which likely resembled her own respect for Dr. thod.
It’s natural for a person to develop a dependency on soone who has saved them, just like the residents of Camp 101 reverence Shelter No.101 as the Forerunner based on such emotions.
But she wouldn’t keep repeating what Dr. thod had said all day long.
Alyssa’s gaze shifted away from Little Fish’s happy face, her hands gripping the teacup on the table as she looked at her reflection on the water’s surface, feeling an inexplicable tightness in her heart.
She rembered the recent letters from ho.
The big guys at Workers’ Association said that Lovett’s wife had recently beco pregnant again, and that bearded carpenter was so happy he couldn’t close his mouth, boasting to whoever he t.
Captain Joey inquired about her well-being with concern, especially about her living situation and whether West State City was safe or not.
Although not explicitly stated in the letters, it could be inferred from between the lines; he too wanted to send his child to Camp 101 for learning but he still had so concerns about the Wasteland beyond the Giant Walls.
Big Brother Wolfeitte also wrote to her, finally no longer dwelling on family and honor, slowly shifting his focus back to family life.
She learned from the old butler’s letter that since she had resigned, Wolfeitte had honestly taken an accountant’s job and started a new life.
As for her father lvin, he was currently working at Giant Stone City Public Library, responsible for sorting the history of Giant Stone City over the past two centuries.
Her mother, save for occasionally weeping silently when ntioning Kishu’s na, had largely moved on from that event.
Whether it was the residents of City of Dawn or Giant Stone City, most were living the lives they had envisioned.
Even if it was not the life they had dread of, they mostly had a fresh start and a complete farewell to the old era.
Including herself.
However, that person alone seed to never have stopped...
...
"I am surprised."
The virtual world constructed by Shelter No. 101 featured a coffee shop with a simple facade and decor nestled in the corner of a bustling street.
As Chu Guang entered through the door, Dr. thod put down the newspaper in his hands and let out a light sigh of sentint from his seat next to the window.
Sitting opposite him, Chu Guang joked.
"Surprised by what?"
"Of course, the changes outside," Dr. thod said with a light smile, continuing, "The seed I planted out of interest, I did not expect it to sprout anew in your hands."
Although Camp 101 does not exist solely as a settlent but is akin to a special direct-administered district like Bister Town, the changes it has undergone during this ti are by no ans inferior to the five settlents of the Alliance.
As of now, nearly 3,000 technicians and para-technicians have joined Camp 101 as full-ti or part-ti students, assisting scholars and experts from 101 in studies across multiple fields, including physics, engineering, and social sciences.
This place is no longer the science research station hiding in the sewers of the past.
With the support of materials, manpower, and security from the Alliance, Camp 101 quickly turned the knowledge received from Shelter No. 101 into tangible results and built new specialized research facilities on the surface.
These include electronic analysis laboratories for recovering technical data from damaged carbon-based circuit boards, as well as satellite tracking stations searching for usable data from outer space.
The Alliance Scientific Expedition Team also has a workstation here, with most of the high-tech debris collected from Pioneer City being sent here for classification.
Furthermore, many local research facilities have extensive technological cooperation with the factories in Dawn City industrial zone. From transforrs for ultra-high voltage electric grids to the armor steel of Tank No. 1, there are traces of the researchers from Camp 101.
Everyone was filled with zeal, just like when the Production Departnt, the Technology Departnt, and the Defense Departnt united under the banner of the Post-War Reconstruction Committee.
And all of this.
Dr. thod watched it all unfold.
Chu Guang felt rather pleased to have received recognition from his senior, although he rely responded with a calm, untroubled smile.
Thinking that this might be a good opportunity, he casually ntioned,
"I discovered technology at the company that allows for the transplantation of thoughts into the AI core. The process is as simple as plugging a USB drive into a computer. We used that technology to save a girl nad Zhao Yinyin. She’s now in Singular Point City, assisting bionic people in helping the locals live new lives."
"If you change your mind, you can leave this place at any ti."
Although Chu Guang, who had extended an olive branch, didn’t hold much hope, the determination of the man before him to wallow in failure still exceeded his expectations.
There wasn’t the slightest sign of being moved in those eyes. It seed as if the man had already accepted the day when the fusion reactor at Shelter No. 101 would be extinguished as the end of his own life.
To Chu Guang’s slight surprise, though the man showed no interest in the olive branch he had offered, a different emotion flickered across his face when he heard the word "Singular Point City."
It was a mory from a long, long ti ago.
A mory tinged with a trace of indistinct lancholy.
"Singular Point City..."
Mulling over the word, he suddenly clenched the armrests of his chair and looked at Chu Guang.
"Have you ever t soone nad Zhao Feiyu there?"
Chu Guang paused for a mont, thinking hard before he rembered where he had heard that na. With a frown, he said,
"That man seems to have died a century ago; I saw him in the mories of a researcher nad Eure."
Dr. thod fell silent for a long ti, then relaxed his grasp on the armrests and let go of the tension in his shoulders and the smile on his face.
"Is that so... Sorry, I asked a stupid question. It’s easy to forget how many years have passed when you’ve lived in peace for too long."
Chu Guang wasn’t bothered and simply raised his eyebrows curiously.
"Was he an acquaintance of yours?"
Dr. thod didn’t hide anything and nodded lightly, saying casually,
"I’ve t him once. His achievents in the field of ’biological pathways solution to radioactive materials’ were remarkable. Many from the Academy had an interest in his research, myself included; I’d invited him twice to the Grand Canyon. Once during the earlier years of the Wasteland Era, and once in the years when the Post-War Reconstruction Committee was slowly coming to its fateful end."
The "Academy" here must refer to the loose academic institution of the past, not the organization currently led by Dr. Principle.
Chu Guang nodded thoughtfully.
"He refused your invitations both tis."
Dr. thod smiled sheepishly.
"Yes, he preferred helping the survivors in Singular Point City... I actually knew what his choice would be from the start, but sotis I indulge my personal interests to do so ’dood to fail’ things, including inviting you here to accompany ."
The implication in his words was clear, the invitation from before was still open.
Even though he held no hope for it.
Looking into those "expectant" eyes, Chu Guang smiled faintly.
"Including the establishnt of the ’Academy’?"
After pondering for a mont, Dr. thod replied with a carefree smile.
"I did indeed do so minor work with my senior brothers, including establishing a technology recovery system for the Post-War Reconstruction Committee. But you might be mistaken, I didn’t establish the ’Academy’; strictly speaking, it is the legacy left by my dear ntor."
Chu Guang felt there was more to his words, but he didn’t think too deeply about it; after all, it had nothing to do with their discussion today.
What he wanted to understand were the "Torch" and the "Holy Land."
Only by understanding the enemy can one defeat the enemy.
The disaster currently unfolding in the south, every clue traced back to that original place—Shelter No.117.
That’s where the "Torches" began their journey.
Seeing that the man before him didn’t bring up the purpose of their eting, only pulling him into aimless chit-chat, Chu Guang was no longer interested in exchanging pleasantries and proactively put forth his question.
"What exactly is the mission of Shelter No. 117?"
Seemingly not expecting Chu Guang to suddenly bring up such a distant matter, Dr. Principle raised his eyebrows slightly in surprise.
"Haven’t you recovered Sven Vilard’s Administrator’s Log? Isn’t it written in there?"
"I want to know what’s not written in the Administrator’s Log."
Staring intently at him, Chu Guang continued,
"The group of rebels uploaded their thoughts to the ’Holy Land’ after leaving the shelter and spread the plague in the south with the help of the Waste Land Wanderers, ruthlessly slaughtering without restraint, and dubbed it ’glorious evolution.’"
"If there had been only one madman, I would think it’s the person’s mind that’s faulty, but when a group of people beco so thoroughly deranged, I have no choice but to suspect Shelter No. 117 is inherently an asylum—either it was housing madn or it was deliberately cultivating them."
Dr. thod unexpectedly stared at Chu Guang, stunned for quite a while.
The look on his face seed both surprised by the actions of the descendants of Shelter No.117 in the Wasteland and astonished by his far too controversial theory.
However—
It was indeed impossible to exclude this possibility.
"Many years ago, soone had co to a similar conclusion as you, believing that the ’Shelter Plan’ actually had two versions."
Chu Guang didn’t speak.
He had indeed speculated this and had been considering the issue when he was in Brocade River Province.
Seeing Chu Guang gesture for him to continue, Dr. thod spoke slowly and thodically.
"Yes, on one hand, shelters with specific numbers execute established protection programs to send a portion of the population from a terrible present to the future. On the other hand, all the shelters, as a united entity, fulfill the duty of protecting the entirety of civilization, which is also the original intent of establishing the Shelter Plan."
"Both duties are mostly non-conflicting, after all, humans are the carriers of civilization, sending so smart people to the future is indeed helpful for the reconstruction of the Wasteland, but a hypothetical step back... if the descendants went a little off track, like resorting to cannibalism to survive, and we put powerful knowledge in their hands, then the Shelter Plan loses its aning and could even be counterproductive."
"Indeed." Chu Guang nodded.
This situation was not uncommon on the Wasteland, quite the opposite, it was fairly common.
And it wasn’t just the Waste Land Wanderer who would stray off course, even the shelters themselves could hardly ensure that they would walk a straight path blindly.
Both the Torch Church and the Enlightennt Society had proven this point.
He just felt that.
It was all a bit too much.
Dr. thod took a sip of his coffee.
"However, that person’s opinion is slightly different from what you’ve said today. He believes that the Shelter Plan truly does have two ’versions,’ but he doesn’t think the second version is about creating trouble; quite the opposite... He regards the ’second version’ as a ’rectification chanism’ intended to address the issues I ntioned earlier."
Chu Guang frowned slightly.
"Rectification?"
Dr. thod did not directly answer the question, instead, his gaze drifted to the flower bed bordering the cent path outside the window.
The flowerbed was lush and verdant.
Although it was an illusion, it felt as real as if it were alive.
"When we scatter seeds on the land, theoretically, as long as it rains, there should always be a few seeds that sprout."
"However, this alone cannot guarantee a bountiful autumn harvest. What breaks through the soil after the rain might not be seedlings; it could be weeds, and the seeds we sowed might just beco their fertilizer."
"So perhaps the Shelter Plan really does have a secondary chanism, responsible for removing decay and savagery at the root, reclaiming the nutrients intended for civilization, allowing the seeds we sow in the fields to successfully germinate."
Placing his coffee cup down, Dr. thod diverted his gaze from the window and looked back at Chu Guang, who seed to be stunned, and smiled faintly.
"That person was Dr. Principle. You should have t that naive fellow."
"I didn’t believe his speculation before, but in you and your companions, I have indeed seen things I’ve never seen before."
"Nevertheless, our era has already ended. Maybe you will be different."
To be honest, Chu Guang was stunned.
He ca seeking a solution, and this guy bluntly told him—you are the solution.
But after thinking it over, he still managed to restrain the urge to curse.
After all, the man sitting in front of him wasn’t just giving up, he was already dead in the truest sense.
Shelter 101 shelters no living person; what lingers here are rely ghosts who died half a century ago.
For this fellow to be willing to crack open the sealed coffin to lend a hand could be described as quite warm-hearted.
But Chu Guang still couldn’t help but make a sarcastic remark.
"Should I say thank you?"
"There’s no need for that."
Detecting the displeasure in Chu Guang’s eyes, Dr. thod chuckled.
At that mont, a piece of paper gently fell from the air, lightly landing on the table in front of Chu Guang like a feather.
Chu Guang imdiately noticed the piece of paper and asked subconsciously.
"What’s this?"
"The code for Shelter No. 100."
Watching Chu Guang pick up the piece of paper, Dr. thod said softly,
"Many years ago, the survivors from Camp 101 tried to enter Shelter No. 100 to fulfill the task of rebuilding West State City for its residents. Regrettably, they were too weak to clear the lake water filling the underground tunnel or open the door sealed by water pressure; and I didn’t believe they had the conditions to complete such a massive project, so I persuaded them to give up that goal and kept the key to the shelter for them."
"Now the ti is ripe. You’ve not only repaired the dam of West State Lake but also established a new order there."
"I believe if it’s you, you will surely make good use of this legacy."
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