Rivers of Filth

There was never any shortage of people in this world who thought alike. Especially in Port French Fries, where so many people were linked by the exact same morphogenetic field. Beside the sacred tree, in the open space roughly cleared by a sweep of the lizard's tail, tons of food were piled into barrels and trailers, looking like the grounds of a massive buffet party. Things like fruit-flavored nutrient paste and high-grade feed for pigs, ducks, cows, and sheep were standard fare. More powerful players had simply formed hunting parties and headed off to maps with a recommended level of 50 to haul in massive quantities of goods, trucking in the hunted iron-backed ants, giant beetles, and titan worms load after load. According to data on the official website, the Dragon Lizard favored "crunchy" food. It was especially crazy about iron-backed ants, which loved to nest in ruins! Clearly, it wasn't just Squirtle, nor was it just the Jungle Corps. Virtually every player gathered around wanted to be that dragon knight. Holding their buckets of nutrient paste before the mountain of food, the three old turtles were dumbfounded in an instant. "Holy shit?!" "This is outrageous!" "Damn, you guys are taking tryharding way too far?!" While the three old turtles were stunned, the Dragon Lizard dozing at the base of the sacred tree was thrilled beyond measure. It had only taken a nap, yet who could have guessed that the moment it opened its eyes, food had delivered itself right to its nose! Praise be to the gifts of the great Tree of Life! It wasn't the least bit reserved. Spotting the mountainous pile of delicacies, it trotted right over without a second thought. Its sloppy, frantic manner looked just like a pig hearing the dinner bell as it tore ravenously into the iron-backed ants on the ground! Sweeping through the spread like a whirlwind, it plowed forward like a bomber making a strafing run—not only churning up the topsoil, but even sweeping half-buried rotten tree stumps straight into its belly. The creature's digestive capabilities were anything but ordinary; a few splintered logs were nothing more than side snacks to it. In less than half an hour, the "mountain of corpses and sea of bones" arrayed around the sacred tree had been swept completely clean. Stuffed and satisfied, the Dragon Lizard raised its head and let out a deafening burp. Then, with a curl of its tail, it curled up lazily beside the sacred tree, an earth-shaking rumble vibrating from its jowls. And then— That was it? The crowd of players looked at one another, every single face plastered with utter bewilderment. One level-40 veteran swallowed hard, turned to the big bro beside him, and asked, "Bro... what now?" Tens of thousands of silver coins' worth of goods had been shoveled down its gullet, and all they had gotten was a couple of loud belches. He felt like he wasn't catching Pals in the forest, but feeding monkeys on Mount Emei. No— Even the monkeys on Mount Emei were more professional than this bastard! Who the hell ate their fill and went straight to sleep without so much as a greeting?! The big bro was bewildered too, caught completely off guard by the Dragon Lizard's refusal to play by the book, and scratched his head in embarrassment. "...Uh, how about we wait until it wakes up and ask?" Hostile actions were forbidden in the safe zone. For now, waiting until it woke up seemed to be their only option. Just then, angry curses rang out not far away. Silver Daddy, the leader of the Silver Corps, hurled the shovel in his hand onto the ground with an expression of pure fury. "What a fucking ripoff!" He had spent a full 100,000 silver coins buying up a massive hoard of iron-backed ant carcasses from nearby hunter players, hoping to seize the opportunity to tame this beast, only to find he couldn't even get close while the monster was inhaling food. And what was worse, the damned thing had gone straight to sleep after eating! He wished he could grab a blade and chop off the damned lizard's tail. Seeing their leader radiating murderous rage, Silver Sword and Silver Hand rushed forward to hold him back. "Holy shit, bro, calm down!" "Let go of me! I can see its health bar!" "Do you want to lose your account?!" It wasn't that they were truly worried about the bastard deleting his account to start over; they were mostly afraid of getting blood splattered on themselves. At that moment, several hunter squads dragged their prey out of the forest, grinning as they called out to the snarling Silver Daddy. "Bro, we've hauled over the prey you ordered! Hit us up again next time you need more." "Don't forget to settle the remaining balance!" Silver Daddy: "Fuck @#%&!" A chaotic racket filled the clearing before the sacred tree, but the Dragon Lizard dozing on the ground acted as if it heard nothing, snoring away to build up its fat. Seeing that he wasn't the only one taking a massive loss, Squirtle, holding his empty bucket, finally felt a sense of balance restored to his heart. Muttering viciously under his breath, he sneered, "Heh, bunch of morons. What level are you guys anyway, still haven't learned your lesson? You think it's that easy to fleece the trash dev?" "Dumbasses!" Blastoise and Hanbagui gave subtle, awkward looks to this guy who didn't even realize he had just insulted himself, unconsciously stepping two paces aside to pretend they didn't know him. Right at that moment, the Dragon Lizard sprawling beneath the Tree of Life suddenly let out a short, muffled pop. *Poof!* Hearing that sound, the noisy crowd fell quiet, turning their eyes toward the slumbering behemoth. "Did you hear that?" "What just happened?" "I think I smell luosifen..." "Uh...?" Watching the lizard suddenly roll over, an ominous premonition welled up in Silver Daddy's chest. Yet before he could react, that short muffled sound stretched into an extended, machine-gun-like barrage. *Pfffffffft—!* A black torrent erupted like a geyser from beneath its lifted tail, sweeping forward with devastating, unstoppable force! "HOLY SHIT?!" Facing the oncoming torrent, Silver Daddy only had time to scream before he and the brothers around him were submerged by the black surge of energy. The beast had probably eaten far too many random things and upset its stomach. The flash-flood of solid and liquid mixture dealt a wave of pure AOE damage, sweeping across the ground in a wide cone and engulfing at least a third of the players present. Including the three old turtles watching the drama unfold from a distance, as well as the other fellows yearning to tame the giant lizard—not a single one escaped. Utterly oblivious, the Dragon Lizard let out a contented rumble from its belly and continued sleeping in peace. Looking down upon the unspeakable scene, the crown of the Tree of Life swayed gently, murmuring whispers no one could comprehend. *What a pity.* *If only it had sprayed closer.* ... From the launch of *Wasteland OL* until now, no one had ever drowned in shit. Fortunately, no one did this time either. That evening. Having bustled about all day, the exhausted players dragged their weary bodies back to Port French Fries. The sky-stinking stench wiped out half the street. The local residents thought there had been a chemical leak and rushed to put on gas masks, only later discovering it was a false alarm. That night, the beaches of Port French Fries were packed with bathing players, and laundry orders were booked out three days in advance; the laundry workers paid per load seemed to have become the biggest winners. After all, if you didn't bathe, you weren't allowed to log off and save. No one could bear that. The aspiring "dragon knights" were on the verge of tears. This was truly suffering a double loss—throwing the helve after the hatchet. The only consolation was that the Dragon Lizard's dung could repel wild beasts, and was even rumored to have medicinal value. While no one dared test the latter, there was already practical proof for the former: Some players, too ashamed to return, tried heading into high-level maps to get killed and respawn back in Dawn City, only to wander from afternoon until nightfall without spotting even the shadow of a mutant. If this stuff were made into an amulet and worn while exploring ruins, you'd be invincible! In addition, the Alliance's Institute of Biological Research purchased a few samples, albeit in very small quantities. In short, these minor gains somewhat offset the losses of the numerous investors. Though compared to what they had put in, it could only be described as "better than nothing." Late at night. The garden of the Coastal Hotel. The Tree of Life deep within the forest reached out to Ye Shi again through Dora, speaking in a slightly grumbling tone. "...While I don't object to you feeding my child, you overfed him. If he stops causing trouble for the other mutants, don't blame me. You'll have to look out for yourselves then." As the creature at the very pinnacle of this forest's food chain, the Dragon Lizard served an essential purpose. Ye Shi replied with an awkward expression, "Uh, I'll pass the word along and tell them not to feed that guy anymore." He figured that after this lesson, even without a reminder, no one would be stupid enough to try again. Still, it was rather bizarre—he still couldn't fathom what those guys had been thinking, imagining they could tame that beast into a pet just by feeding it a few slabs of meat. More importantly, none of them had awakened psionics, had they? If he had tried it, there might have been a sliver of hope, or an experienced beast tamer might have pulled it off, but letting a bunch of total amateurs have a go stood zero chance. The Tree of Life expressed approval at his response, then continued, "The main issue is that you gave far too much. A little bit here and there is fine... When this child is full, all he does is sleep. Over time, he might even forget how to hunt and just come begging food from you. "That would be bad for both him and you." ... The night passed without further incident. The following morning, when checkout time arrived, Ye Shi settled the bill at the hotel. Even though the lobby manager repeatedly insisted that the unique "Alpha Centauri landscape" garden was more than enough to cover their room fees for an entire year and that the hotel owner had waived their bill, Ye Shi insisted on paying. If asked why, it was naturally because Brother Guang had already allocated the funds. There was really no need to save money on Brother Guang's behalf; the guy literally printed the currency. For Dora, however, those slips of paper printed with pretty patterns and designs were a complete novelty. Blinking with curious eyes, she held the hundred-yuan bill she had asked from Ye Shi up above her head, examining it for quite a while before looking over at Ye Shi to ask, "What is this?" Ye Shi replied casually, "A banknote, money, silver coins—call it whatever you like. You can use it to trade for things from other people." Not just trade for goods from others; this stuff could even be exchanged with mysterious buyers outside the game for real-world currency. Seeing the blank look on Dora's face, however, he realized she clearly didn't understand. "Trade? Why?" The confusion on Dora's face deepened. In the Doma Tribe, "trade" was undeniably a novel concept. Because everything within the tribe was collectively owned, and if you wanted something outside the tribe, you simply went and took it. Nor was there any exchange of goods between different tribes. Everyone worshipped the same deity and followed the same lifestyle and code of conduct. What you had, I generally had too; there was no concept of one having what another lacked. On top of that, these people lived just like the Dragon Lizard—normally eating by hunting, and if food ran low, whining or acting cute to the sacred tree yielded everything they needed. If no major catastrophe occurred in the future, they might well have enjoyed tribal life forever. "What do you mean why..." Ye Shi scratched the back of his head, at a loss for how to explain. "Your society hasn't reached that stage yet. Once you... find the sea, you'll understand." Dora tilted her head. "Why finding the sea?" Ye Shi said succinctly, "Because you'll discover seashells that don't exist in the forest. Then someone will take game found in the forest but not by the sea to trade with coastal tribes for shells... You know what shells are, right? Those little trinkets you saw on the beach when you got off the ship." Those were probably the most ancient form of currency. Seeing that Dora had more questions lined up, Ye Shi quickly grabbed Ms. Han Mingyue, who had just stepped out of the elevator, dumping this walking questionnaire onto her. "This is a social sciences expert from the Alliance! Ask her whatever questions you have, she knows way more than me." "Wait, what are you talking about—" "I just remembered I left something in my room! Leaving this to you!" "Hey!" Leaving behind a bewildered Han Mingyue, Ye Shi hurried out of the lobby and slipped into the elevator. Although Han Mingyue didn't quite know what had happened, looking at Dora's "curious about everything" expression, she guessed roughly what was going on. Patting her forehead with her palm to shake off the remnants of sleep, she looked at Dora and asked gently, "Is there anything I can help you with?" Dora looked at her hesitantly and tentatively offered the banknote in her hand. Amused and exasperated, Han Mingyue gently pushed it back and said in a patient tone, "You don't need to pay for little things like this... Ahem, I don't know what that guy told you, but he probably didn't explain it clearly. This kind of thing is only used in trade and transactions, understand? You don't need it when friends help each other out with small favors." Blushing, Dora pulled the banknote back. Han Mingyue watched her patiently and said softly, "So, what can I help you with?" Dora nodded gently and whispered, "There's one thing... I can't quite understand." Han Mingyue: "What is it?" Dora looked outside the hotel lobby toward the bustling street and whispered, "There are so many things here I've never seen before. I've been so happy living here during this time, and I even thought about staying here forever at one point. Yet you told me this is merely a corner of the Alliance, that there's more to this land than just the Alliance, and that there are places far more prosperous than this." Han Mingyue smiled and said, "You could say that. The most prosperous should be Ideal City; its prosperity stretches all the way from the ground to the sky... You should have a chance to see it for yourself." Dora turned to look at her and gave a shy smile. "This place is already amazing enough to me... Sometimes I can't help wondering how wonderful it would be if my people on Gaia could live like this too." Han Mingyue said, "They will, someday." "Why can't it be now?" Dora looked at her earnestly, blinking as she spoke. "You said that at least half the blood flowing in our veins is yours. We were family all along. If you're willing to come to our world, we would welcome you warmly too... just like before, when Ye Shi came to our tribe." Although some minor unpleasantness had occurred back then, they had earnestly reflected on their mistakes. Including the late chieftain Tun Nan. And his apology had been forgiven by the Progenitor. A thoughtful expression appeared on Han Mingyue's face, and after a moment, she said, "Actually... the proposal you raised is indeed an option, but I don't believe our arrival would necessarily be good for you." "Why?" "You think too highly of us." "Aren't you good?" Looking at the bewildered Dora, Han Mingyue shook her head gently. "It's not about being good or bad; it's simply a matter of perspective, just like the two sides of the banknote in your hand. Our way isn't perfect, and we believe a more perfect societal form will inevitably replace what we have now in the future... Nor is your society entirely devoid of merit to us. We are merely in different stages of development." Sometimes she felt that this girl from Alpha Centauri was like her own child. Pure as a blank sheet of paper. Of course, phrased that way, it wasn't quite accurate. Strictly speaking, she was a child of everyone on this planet... Looking at Dora, who still looked completely innocent and puzzled, Han Mingyue smiled, reached out, and gently ruffled her hair. "This trip isn't over yet. What you've seen is only a corner of the Progenitor's world. "You'll understand soon enough why I say that."