Project Ark

[Server Announcement: Administrator "Dawn" has completed the takeover of Vault 117. A new outpost, "Vault 117," has been added to the VM map.] ["Huayuan Street Subway Platform" map unlocked: The intricate subway network was once a symbol of Qingquan City's past prosperity, but today it has become a breeding ground for mutants and slime mold. Gnawers, Crawlers, Detonators, and even terrifying Tyrants; barbarians dwelling underground and plague-spreading swarms of rats... Here, day and night have no meaning. In this unique ecosystem, the danger factor is twice that of the surface! At the same time, however, unexpected treasures may lie hidden within this labyrinth connected to the abyss...] [A friendly tip from Xia Yan: I once lost a leg here. If you insist on exploring this place, you'd better drag your teammates along. That way, at least you'll have company on your way to the afterlife.] Roughly half an hour after the Administrator entered Vault 117, nearly every player carrying a VM received this series of notifications at the same time. "Holy crap! A new map unlocked?!" "An underground labyrinth connected to the abyss? Sounds wild... Wait, how come I didn't feel it was very dangerous here?" "That's because the mutants here were already cleared out! What do you think Brother Mole's been busy doing here all week?" "By the way, what kind of junk can we scavenge in the subway?" "Maybe pre-war strategic stockpiles? But it's been two centuries. Even if there were stuff like that, I feel like someone would've raided it ages ago." "Any squads setting out? Constitution-type looking for a Perception." "Set out my ass, look what time it is! Tomorrow! At least let me head back and save my progress. Grinding EXP isn't easy." "Sigh, dying once wipes your entire day's progress. This death penalty is too damn realistic!" In the tunnel. Looking at his VM, Fang Chang switched to the map tab, located the icon for Vault 117, and tapped it with his index finger. When he saw the subpage pop up on the screen, he paused for a moment. [ Outpost Name: Vault 117 Outpost Level: Ruins (Lv. 0) Prosperity: 0 Industrial Index: 0 Commercial Index: 0 Needs: None Affinities: Exploration (+10% Scavenging Quest Rewards), Hunting (+10% Hunting Quest Rewards) ] "Vault 117's stat card actually updated..." Hearing Brother Fang Chang's voice, Ye Shi blinked, hurriedly opened his map, and a look of astonishment spread across his face. "Holy shit? A stat card pops up even with 0 Prosperity?" If he remembered correctly, an outpost only became a survivor settlement once its Prosperity reached 100 points, right? Here, forget about Prosperity—there wasn't even a single NPC. Kuang Feng also noticed the change on the map. After pondering for a moment, he offered a conjecture. "Maybe vaults are special entities? Look at the level column—it says 'Ruins.'" Fang Chang nodded in agreement with his analysis. "Yeah. Whether it's the outpost or Changjiu Farm, the level column is labeled as 'Village.' Maybe vaults have a different development path from ordinary survivor settlements." Like serving as a save point at the entrance to the underground labyrinth? As for what it specifically was, they would only know after the announcement came out on the official website. ... Keeping Vault 117 was a decision Chu Guang had made after careful consideration. Although Vault 117's floor area was on the smaller side, though small, it had all the vital organs. From fully closed-loop life-support facilities onward, everything expected of a three-digit vault was present here. The shut-down reactor was an issue, but not a fatal one. Even if he couldn't fully utilize all of this vault's functions, treating it as a bridgehead for players to explore the subterranean world was still a solid option. Qingquan City's underground transit network extended in all directions, connecting not only to the various urban districts of Qingquan City, but also to many civil defense facilities. The only trouble was the mutants roaming the subway tunnels. In fact, the moment Chu Guang removed the VM from the arm of Vault 117's previous administrator, he realized his hesitation was completely unnecessary. For almost immediately, he received a quest notification from the vault system. [Quest: Refuel the thermonuclear fusion reactor of Vault 117] [Reward: Vault 117 Highest (Administrator) Authorization] Looking at the quest pop-up floating in his field of view, Chu Guang couldn't help but complain under his breath: "Where the hell am I supposed to find fuel rods for a reactor?" The fuel rods used by the vault's reactor weren't the same size as those used by the Pioneer. In other words, counting on recovering fuel rods from the carbon dioxide scrubber was out of the question. Wrench, following behind Chu Guang, was taken aback, completely baffled by what the Administrator had suddenly said. "My Lord?" "...It's nothing." Looking at the VM recovered from Vault 117's administrator, Chu Guang wore it on his person and waited a while until it finally recovered a bit of battery charge. The VM booted up. What greeted his eyes was the original operating system of the vital signs monitor. Pulling up the data saved in the black box, he discovered that the previous administrator had died from an overdose of sleeping pills. The desk was very tidy, holding only three items: a pen holder with two pens, a brown-leather-bound diary, and an empty goblet. Chu Guang searched the desk and soon found an unsealed medicine bottle in a drawer. Looking at the skeletal remains slumping back in the office chair, Chu Guang could roughly picture the scene: the previous administrator sitting here, swallowing a lethal overdose of sleeping pills, sipping a glass of wine, and quietly awaiting death. His gaze fell onto the diary on the desk. Chu Guang reached out, picked it up, and turned the cover thick with dust. On the title page, it read: [To the scavengers of the ruined world, the archaeologists of utopian remains, the ones cleaning up the mess.] [The Administrator of Vault 117, the Tomb Keeper of Utopia—Seven Willard sleeps here eternally.] [The most despairing tragedy is nothing less than witnessing the end of a great era. A year in a tomb is no different from a century. I have decided to send myself off once my mission has concluded. If my bones remain, please find a place to bury me. Everything here is yours to take; I have no further use for it anyway.] "What does 'once my mission has concluded' mean?" Sliding his index finger gently along the line of text, Chu Guang fell into deep thought. Perhaps because of the Bloodhand Diary, whenever he saw a diary nowadays, he couldn't help associating it with the first-generation manager of Shelter 404. The recording had seemed to mention that he was the pioneer of the Grand Line, the most learned man of the Old World. Could the presence of this diary here also stem from some arrangement made two centuries ago? There was still undecrypted data inside the recovered VM. Along with this diary, Chu Guang planned to bring it back for study. Currently, three questions remained unresolved: What exactly was the mission Vault 117's administrator spoke of? Where had the vault's residents gone? And who was Captain Prit's employer? The latter two questions might find their answers in the first. Gathering up the clues, Chu Guang turned to Wrench standing nearby. "In a moment, I'll take off my exoskeleton. You put it on." Wrench blinked in surprise. "Then what about you, My Lord?" Looking at the power armor standing to the side, the corner of Chu Guang's mouth curled into a smile. "I have this." ... In the subway tunnel. At the entrance of Vault 117. When the Administrator stepped through the massive alloy door and emerged from Vault 117, it caused quite a stir among the players. The deep blue paint, the sharp, angular contours, and the heavy plating—just looking at it gave off an overwhelming, palpable sense of oppression! "Holy crap! Our Administrator upgraded his gear again!" "Mommy... this power armor is way too badass!" "Dumb question: is this a teaser before power armor drops in the NPC shop?" "I strongly demand the devs put up the exact same suit of power armor for sale! I'd whale out for it!" "Keep dreaming. SSSR-tier equipment like that, even if they let you buy it, it'd probably be locked behind a gacha pool." "Waaah, please devs, fix the bug that won't let us top up already!" Glancing at the power armor on the Administrator and then down at his own budget version, Lao Bai wore an expression full of envy. In all honesty, the defensive capability of the armor he wore wasn't weak either. A 20mm steel plate was enough to withstand ordinary gunfire, which was sufficient for most situations. Compared to what the Administrator wore, however, his was still utterly outclassed. Whether in defense or mobility, it was completely blown out of the water by several tiers. "Sigh, I wonder when our Administrator is gonna upgrade his gear again." He had no other ambitions; he was just holding out for whatever hand-me-downs the Administrator retired next. Hearing this, Ye Shi's heart stirred, and he asked: "Speaking of which, where's the Administrator's old exoskeleton?" Kuang Feng peered toward the entrance of Vault 117 and remarked: "Looks like the guard team captain is wearing it." Lao Bai: "Fuck!" Didn't he usually hand it over to Boss Xia to auction off? Why did he transfer it straight to another NPC this time?! This was way too realistic! Halting in the tunnel, Chu Guang turned back to Wrench following behind him. "I need you to deploy two people from the guard team to set up a camp here. They'll maintain order and issue quests to the 'players.'" "No problem, My Lord," Wrench replied, hesitating for a moment before cautiously adding, "However... our manpower might be stretched thin." The guard team had only fifteen members. Not only did they have to handle security at the outpost, they also had to cover Changjiu Farm. Adding this newly established settlement on top, their manpower was severely lacking. After hearing Wrench out, Chu Guang pondered for a moment and said: "Once we return, I'll instruct Luka to recruit some newcomers from Bet Street and the refugee camp, gradually expanding the guard team's roster from 15 to 45 members. Go along with him when the time comes to help him screen for quality." Wrench replied respectfully, "Understood, My Lord." ... After returning to the shelter. Following the user manual of the power armor, Chu Guang created a profile card for his new gear and updated it in the official website's database. It wasn't to show off, but rather to dangle a carrot in front of the players. [ Equipment: Power Armor Model: "Order" P-10A Carlos Industrial Security-Type Power Armor Durability: 100% Armor: 100% Energy: 79% Shield: 0 Net Weight: 1,100 kg Left Arm: Basic Armor Right Arm: Basic Armor Chest: 70mm lightweight composite steel / ceramic-lined curved armor Back: "Raptor-1" booster thruster x2 Left Leg: "Raptor-1" booster thruster Right Leg: "Raptor-1" booster thruster Power Core: "Hippo-1" portable fusion reactor Paint: Klein Blue Plug-ins: None ] Weighing over a ton, it was impossible to move in when powered down; essentially, wearing it drained power constantly. However, this power armor had an adjustable energy-saving mode that allowed the wearer to sacrifice mobility and supply part of the driving force through their own muscles, thereby reducing power consumption. Chu Guang's current Strength attribute was 17, equivalent to 3.4 times that of a normal adult male, making it more than easy enough to bear 3.4 times his own weight. Combined with the fact that the power armor was designed with features of unpowered exoskeletons, driving it to move didn't actually consume as much stamina as one might imagine. The extra encumbrance could simply be treated as physical training. Of course, for Chu Guang, the harvest from this "Huayuan Street Subway Station Operation" wasn't just this power armor and the 200 reward points from completing the side quest. There was also the black box entrusted to Vault 117's administrator by Dr. Yuan Li! Caressing the black box with both hands, Yin Fang looked excitedly at Chu Guang and said, "An S-rank relic!" Chu Guang paused slightly. "An S-rank relic? What do you mean?" Taking a deep breath, Yin Fang continued: "I should have mentioned this to you before. To facilitate the recovery of pre-war technology, the Academy classifies items slated for recovery in the 'Blueprint' into seven tiers—F, E, D, C, B, A, and S—based on multiple factors including technical reconstruction difficulty, number of associated projects, total data volume, and practical value. This ensures higher-priority projects receive larger budgets and staffing. This grading system is not only used to classify technologies, but also to evaluate pre-war civilization relics and ruins." Looking back at the black briefcase before him, Yin Fang said in disbelief: "Like this thing. "The 'black box' of Project Ark undoubtedly belongs to the S-rank relics." Chu Guang frowned. "What is Project Ark?" "Another civilization preservation project parallel to the Vault Project. It presupposes that under extreme conditions, societal production completely halts, and supply chains are thoroughly destroyed; we would need a simple, convenient production tool capable of using raw materials found everywhere to produce the things we need. "The 'black box' was the product of Project Ark. Based on cutting-edge printing technology, it only requires the input of basic feedstocks and electricity to create specific products. For example, the most common type of black box, measuring roughly 30 by 30 by 20 centimeters, only needs electricity; left out in the open, it can absorb carbon dioxide and moisture from the air to synthesize starch. Slightly more advanced models can directly synthesize barbecue-flavored pizza and cake from carbon dioxide and water." Chu Guang asked in surprise, "It can even do something like that?" Yin Fang: "Of course! It's the crystallization of pre-war societal technology, like a wish-granting machine that fulfills every request! Though its efficiency isn't high, it's absolutely reliable. It has only one drawback: its single functionality. What it gives you doesn't depend on your wishes, but rather on what functions its designer bestowed upon it." Chu Guang looked at the black box in front of him. "What about this black box? What can I get from it?" Yin Fang: "No idea. Over the past two centuries, the Academy has recovered around a hundred boxes, and the only ones I've come into contact with synthesized cake and pizza. But looking at the volume of this box, it seems to be an M size... It's unlikely to synthesize pizza and cake. Want to open it? There's usually a foolproof manual inside—supposedly the kind even an illiterate person can understand. We'll know once we take a look." Chu Guang didn't answer and directly entered the passcode on the box: [X1179] He had a sharp memory for numbers; after seeing it once, he remembered it and couldn't possibly make a mistake. With a crisp click, the lock popped open. Yin Fang was even more impatient than Chu Guang and couldn't wait to flip the box open. Standing behind Yin Fang, Chu Guang noticed that the box's internal structure was very simple. There were only a few dead-simple buttons, a power port likely used to plug it into electricity, and a feed hopper designed like a drawer. The manual rested in a groove beside the buttons. On it were simple, easy-to-understand stick diagrams; just as Yin Fang had said, even an illiterate could easily follow them. It seemed the designers of Project Ark had even accounted for the possibility that post-war survivors might become illiterate. Unfolding the manual and glancing through it, Yin Fang's intrigued expression deepened, and he clicked his tongue in wonder: "Neural link units! Integrating both neural signal collectors and modems, containing three C-grade technologies and two D-grade technologies... Now this is good stuff!" Chu Guang asked, "Do you know how to use it?" "Of course! I'm an expert in this field!" With a confident smile, Yin Fang put down the manual and looked up at Chu Guang, saying excitedly: "With this, we can manufacture simple exoskeletons and mechanical prosthetics!" ... Official forum: "Fuck! Do noobs have no human rights?" "Brutal! I was literally fighting a mob when my screen just went black!" "Unbelievable! I thought it was a bug! Turned out I got ambushed!" "Right?! A three-day respawn cooldown is way too bullshit!" Complaining about the respawn cooldown was practically a daily routine on the forum. With more people on the server recently, there were always one or two unlucky bastards every day who either got their necks bitten open by stray dogs in the Yumu District hunting grounds or were dragged into the water while fishing by the lake. Almost every newbie who died for the first time complained about Wasteland OL's punishing death penalty. It was just that this time, fifteen had died in one go, which was a bit more than usual. As for the veteran players and the spectator armchair gamers lurking on the forum, they had long grown accustomed to these low-effort posts. What's three days? Too young, too simple! When the expansion had a bug last time, they couldn't even log on for an entire expansion cycle! Scrambled Eggs with Tomatoes: "That's just how this game is, nothing you can do. At least there wasn't a bug. Count your blessings." Elaina: "+1. Realism is one of Wasteland OL's selling points. The planner didn't make you reincarnate from scratch, so count yourself lucky. Don't like it? Don't play. (funny)" Ye Shi: "You newbies, at least this was a scripted death! You were even exempted from fines, so what the hell are you whining about? Do you know how much we got docked back then? 500 Contribution! Boss Yaya, the first one to test the waters, was fined until she cried! (funny)" Yaya: "I didn't! Stop talking nonsense! ヾ(。｀Д′。)丿彡" Elven King Fugui: "I can testify! She didn't test waters with crabs, she ate leeches! (funny)" Yaya: "(╯°Д°)╯︵┻━┻" ... The Cattle and Horse Group. As usual, it was only lively in the early morning, because at night the group owner and the dog admins were all gaming. Right then, however, a line of text suddenly popped up in the chat. Lao Bai: "I just tried logging into the game, why suddenly can't I get in???" The group owner couldn't log in? Now that was big news. Ye Shi, who was shooting the breeze with the group members, hurriedly typed: "Can't log in? What's going on?!" "Helmet prompt says... character abnormal, and it didn't give a specific time," Lao Bai said nervously. "Damn, could I have violated a rule?" Impossible. He played super carefully; let alone attacking NPCs, he was friendly as hell! Kuang Feng: "I just tried, I can still log in on my end." Ye Shi: "+1, me too." Lao Bai: "Damn, that's weird. Could it be a bug?" WC Really Has Mosquitoes: "I'll @ Brother Guang for you! @Guang" Ah Guang was probably working overtime; he didn't reply. This brother didn't seem to use mobile QQ much, always logging in from a PC, and only had a chance of bubbling up between 8:00 AM and 10:00 AM. The group members threw out all kinds of terrible ideas for Lao Bai. Some suggested he soak the helmet in water to see if that helped. Right then, an idea crossed Fang Chang's mind, and he typed: "Lao Bai, what was your EXP bar at before you logged off?" Lao Bai: "EXP bar? Hold on, let me check the official site." Without making them wait long, Lao Bai quickly returned. "Mystery solved." Ye Shi immediately typed back: "What? What mystery solved?!" Lao Bai: "Heheh, I just checked. My character is Level 10!"