[Server Announcement: Congratulations to player "Fleeting White Horse" for achieving the first kill on a Deathclaw!]
[As the player has chosen to make it public, this achievement will enter the Hall of Fame.]
Mid-Continent Aerospace Experimental Base.
The players clearing the battlefield received these two notifications on their VMs almost simultaneously.
And almost simultaneously, dumbfounded expressions spread across their faces.
"Holy shit?"
"Lao Bai???"
"Fuck me, wasn't that guy captured?"
"What's the deal with this hostage? Breaking out on his own was one thing, but how the hell did he steal a first kill too?"
"Zero stars! I strongly demand the devs hire a different extra next time!"
"Waaaah, my first kill!"
Over five hundred meters from the experimental base.
On the roof of a two-story townhouse.
Staring at the VM on his arm, Ye Shi's eyes went wide as saucers, his face frozen in pure disbelief.
"Holy crap, Lao Bai's got skills!"
Not only did he fight his way out, he fucking took down a Deathclaw!
That monster stood over four meters tall, with claws practically as long as a leg. Ye Shi couldn't fathom what position or maneuver Lao Bai had pulled off to take it down.
"Probably the one we ran into this morning. If I remember right, before we left, the marauders had already blasted that Deathclaw to near death with rocket launchers," Fang Chang reasoned analytically.
"Still pretty ridiculous!" Ye Shi sighed with feeling. "Damn, everyone keeps saying Strength builds are early-game builds, but isn't this 'early game' lasting a bit too damn long?"
Engagement ranges were stretching longer and longer, leaving Perception builds practically sidelined!
If neural interface gear wasn't rolled out soon, Intelligence builds would dry up and die waiting!
Constitution and Agility never even had much presence, basically taking turns playing second fiddle.
Only the Strength build had been dominating from 0.1 through 0.9—leveling up fast, hitting like a truck, and even when carrying bricks, hauling more in one trip than anyone else could in two.
Where was the damn justice in that?
If Lao Bai weren't one of their own, Ye Shi figured he'd be crying for the nerf bat alongside all the salty sourpusses on the forum.
"Uh, maybe everything before Level 10 counts as early game?" Fang Chang's expression was a little complicated.
Bringing this up was indeed rather awkward.
Every time a patch dropped, he predicted the imminent rise of Intelligence builds, but from 0.5 all the way to 0.9, it was as if the game developers had forgotten the entire build existed.
What happened to the promised cybernetic implants?
What happened to the neural interface gear?
Strength builds were going on rampages!
Sure enough, raw muscle really was the true theme of this game!
"Man, when we log off, we gotta make Lao Bai send a red envelope!"
Fang Chang nodded. "Definitely. We have to make him send a fat one!"
Ye Shi grew impatient. "Speaking of which, how much longer do we have to wait here? Can I take out that mutant hyena squatting by the corner of the wall? I've been watching it bare its teeth over there for ages."
Fang Chang glanced at his VM. "I haven't gotten any new quests yet, but judging by the green dots spread across the map, our people have completely secured the battlefield... Let's wait a bit longer."
Anyway, loot dropped from raid-level battles belonged to the collective, so let them clear the field.
Slacking off here for a while wasn't bad either.
Just as Fang Chang thought this, however, both his and Ye Shi's VMs chimed with a new quest at the same time.
To be precise, not just the two of them; Kuang Feng, who was covering their six, received it at the exact same moment.
[Quest: Travel to the target area and establish a reconnaissance post]
[Reward: 50 War Score]
"What's going on? The battle isn't over yet?" Ye Shi was baffled and instinctively turned to Fang Chang.
Whenever he couldn't figure out what was happening, he did that.
But this time, Fang Chang was also a bit lost.
"Don't look at me, I'm not Ah Guang. Looking at this rationally, this battle should be over... but who knows if there's another one."
Who knew?
Maybe Ah Guang was working overtime lately and didn't have time to look after them, so other devs saw how fast they were progressing and decided to target them.
Wasn't there another dev named "Xiao Qi"?
Still, Fang Chang leaned toward believing Ah Guang's claim—the game's plot and quests were generated dynamically by the server's AI, just like the tropes in classic MMORPG web novels; developers usually didn't interfere with game progression.
As for zero interference, that was unlikely. Just like the claim of "100% realism," that kind of crap was just marketing talk; nobody actually believed it, right?
Fang Chang switched to the map, sliding his forefinger across the VM screen, quickly locating the quest marker.
It seemed to be an amusement park, located about 10 kilometers north of the Mid-Continent Aerospace Ecological Experimental Base. Never mind how far that was—that location was almost on the southern outskirts of Tianshui City!
That was an unexplored area; no one had ever ventured so far from the respawn point.
"Can I save my progress first? I at least took out two guys," Ye Shi said, looking ready to cry as he noticed the quest beacon's location on the map.
"Probably no way to save. We're at least sixteen kilometers from the respawn point. Going back and forth would be over thirty kilometers..." Fang Chang's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed hard, continuing, "Anyway, let's rendezvous with Lao Bai first."
...
At the same time, at the outpost 16 kilometers from the front lines.
Accompanied by Liu Jiuyue and three bodyguards, Brown, wrapped in a heavy coat, had hurried through the wind and snow from his farm.
"I am the owner of Brown Farm. I've come to discuss countermeasures against the Bone Chewer Tribe's invasion of the northern outskirts of Qingquan City. Here is my invitation letter... What are you doing here?"
When he clearly saw the people gathered outside the outpost's south gate, Brown was completely dumbfounded.
Standing there were none other than the very people he had driven out of his own living room earlier!
"What a coincidence."
Looking at Brown, the scar-faced man crossed his arms over his chest, blew a whistle at him, and teased, "Who would've thought our old landlord talked big about blue coats being unreliable, yet his body is surprisingly honest?"
"Is that all your mouth can spew?"
A flash of fury crossed Brown's face.
Standing behind him, Liu Jiuyue took half a step forward, glaring at the scar-faced man with a grim expression, his hand already resting on his waist.
Completely ignoring the man's gesture, the scar-faced man looked at him leisurely, his eyes narrowing slightly.
The tension in the air mounted.
The two guards stationed at the gate had already turned their eyes onto the confronting parties, ready to break up the fight by force at any second.
Just then, Brown caught sight of an old man walking out of the south gate out of the corner of his eye.
The old man looked somewhat familiar, but for the life of him, Brown couldn't recall where he had seen that face before.
Strange.
He couldn't remember at all!
While Brown was distracted, the middle-aged man wearing a hunter's cap stepped forward and gave a slight nod toward the old man at the gate.
"I am Du Conglin of Morning Breeze Community. Please grant me an audience with your Administrator. I have an urgent matter of great importance to discuss with him!"
The scar-faced man stepped forward as well.
"Night Owl, from Highway Town. I'd like to see your Administrator too, regarding the Bone Chewer Tribe."
Terrified of being left behind, the man whose head was as round as his belly hurriedly took a step forward as well.
"Red Train Post, Duolu... For the sake of all of us being survivors of the northern outskirts of Qingquan City, please help us."
The others voiced similar pleas, their eyes looking at Old Luka with desperation and longing.
Pushed to the outside, Brown, along with Liu Jiuyue and the retinue of guards behind him, was thoroughly bewildered.
Who the hell was the one actually invited here?
Old Luka didn't favor anyone.
Although there were a dozen more people than originally planned, he still followed the Lord Administrator's orders and received them with the demeanor and attitude of a head steward.
"The Lord Administrator has gone out and won't be back until a bit later. If you are willing to wait for him, please follow me inside."
As he said this, Old Luka looked past the crowd at the farmer, Brown, standing in the back.
With an unchanged expression, he spoke in a completely professional tone.
"You must be Mr. Brown. Please come in as well."
"Right."
Brown nodded hurriedly and walked inside the outpost alongside the other survivors.
On the way to the parlor.
Brown kept racking his brains over where he had seen that face before. Finally unable to hold back, he shot a glance at Liu Jiuyue, signaling him to draw closer, and whispered in a low voice:
"Is that the Administrator's steward? Or someone else of his... Why does he look familiar to me?"
Liu Jiuyue smiled wryly inside. Of course he knew why Mr. Brown found him familiar, but fearing blame, he had no choice but to play dumb.
"I don't know, sir. When I came here last time to deliver your message, that was the first time I saw him... Perhaps you've mistaken him for someone else?"
Though suspicious of that answer, Brown really couldn't recall where he had seen him, so he didn't press further, casually replying:
"Perhaps."
...
The group arrived at the parlor.
The setting was austere; the most expensive items were probably the bearskin rug on the floor and the radio resting on the wooden table beside it.
Brown recognized that radio.
He had once visited the old mayor of Bet Street as a guest, and their mutual defense pact had even been signed right in the old mayor's study.
Brown still remembered that at the time, the radio was playing Voice of Boulder City's Road to Riches—specifically the segment on Cam tree cultivation techniques.
For that very reason, Brown felt a prickle of unease.
Although he had delivered a shipment of grain here in a timely fashion back then, there was no guarantee the lord here wouldn't suddenly remember that incident and use it as an excuse to shake him down.
Being able to buy peace with money was a good thing.
The problem was, he genuinely couldn't squeeze out another drop.
Once everyone was seated.
Looking at the survivors in the parlor, Old Luka spoke up.
"We didn't expect so many guests to arrive. The accommodations here are rather modest, so please bear with us."
Du Conglin from Morning Breeze Community shook his head and said politely, "Not at all, it was rude of us to intrude."
Although the setting in the parlor was somewhat plain, no one doubted the strength of these blue coats.
Along the way in, Night Owl had been observing the people here. To his astonishment, he had spotted several survivors who showed apparent signs of awakening.
Since when had "awakening" become as common as dirt?
Night Owl vividly remembered what a brutal price he had paid, and what perilous life-and-death trials he had survived, just to luckily gain that hard-won power.
"...Originally, we intended to invite each of you in turn to discuss the situation in northern Qingquan City, but since you are all here together, we might as well address you at once."
Pausing, Luka continued:
"I believe you have all sensed that the chaos brought by the Legion is spreading southward from the central regions of River Valley Province. Countless survivors have been displaced by the war, and a massive marauder tribe is rising amidst the turmoil. They burn villages, destroy settlements, pillaging and enslaving everything in sight."
The gaunt man shivered, trembling as he said:
"The Bone Chewers..."
Luka glanced at him and nodded.
"Indeed, that is their name."
"Originally, we anticipated they would march toward the northern outskirts of Qingquan City in spring. To our surprise, however, they have arrived ahead of schedule."
Saying so, Old Luka nodded to an assistant nearby.
The young man caught on immediately and distributed prepared VMs to each of the survivors seated in the room.
Looking at the VMs in their hands, feeling somewhat at a loss, the people in the parlor wondered what these blue coats intended to do. Then, footage appeared on the screens.
It was aerial drone footage.
In a research facility dotted with campfires, a band of marauders had taken over.
They were heavily equipped: some carried bolt-action rifles, others held automatic rifles, machine guns were welded to the roofs of trucks, some even wore bulletproof vests over fur coats, and quite a few carried RPGs on their backs... Those were all Legion armaments!
Witnessing this scene, everyone present—including Brown—wore grim expressions.
"Are they... Bone Chewers?"
"Where is this?"
"Looks like the Mid-Continent Aerospace Ecological Experimental Base... I've heard of that place; it's northeast of Qingquan City!"
"What?! The Bone Chewers have already fought their way to Qingquan City?!"
A flurry of panic swept through the room.
The Bone Chewers were right under their noses?
Didn't the radio say they were still some distance away?!
"This place is about fifteen to sixteen kilometers from us. Not particularly close, but by no means far," Luka answered some of their questions, gesturing for them to remain calm and keep watching.
On the screen.
Beside the road below the high ground, a flash of fire suddenly sparked.
Without the slightest warning, that quiet stretch of woods was instantly lit up by dense muzzle flashes!
Combat erupted in an instant!
Just then, screaming rockets streaked across the battlefield, slamming violently into the south side of the experimental base, blooming into fiery explosions across the marauders' positions.
At the same time, the marauders' machine guns opened fire down the slope, the whizzing bullets nearly scorching the air they pierced.
The intense, violent atmosphere punched right through the screen.
Brown held his breath involuntarily, his expression frozen stiff as stone.
At that moment, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the fat man named Duolu sitting not far away, beads of sweat the size of soybeans rolling down his forehead.
It was obvious he was terrified by the sight!
Meanwhile, Du Conglin and Night Owl nearby weren't scared out of their wits by the battlefield's carnage.
However, as the fighting intensified, expressions of astonishment, shock, and disbelief emerged on their faces all the same.
Not only because of the blue coats' strength.
What stunned them even more was the prowess displayed by the marauders defending the high ground.
Were these people really just marauders???
In Du Conglin's memory, marauders were cutthroats who preyed only on the weak, fighting like street gangs brawling... even if he himself was one.
Yet these marauders clearly possessed a degree of combat discipline.
Thinking back to less than an hour ago, when their group had been arguing until red in the face over whether one family contributed two more men or two fewer, Du Conglin was struck by a deep sense of powerlessness.
If they had been thrown into that meat grinder to go toe-to-toe with these marauders, he was certain less than a third of them would have made it back alive.
On the screen, as the survivors on the eastern front stormed the high ground and breached the experimental base, the battle drew to a close.
Only sporadic muzzle flashes flickered across the battlefield.
Marauders who had retreated into the buildings were either gunned down behind cover or blown apart by grenades lobbed into the rooms.
Even worse were those whose clothes caught fire from Molotov cocktails, turning into living torches and burning to death in agony.
The battle was undoubtedly a victory for the blue coats.
A group of marauders with hands behind their heads were being escorted out of a laboratory building in single file under the watchful eyes of rifle barrels.
The footage ended there.
The parlor fell dead silent.
Looking at the seated survivors, Old Luka said with a solemn expression:
"Gentlemen, we are facing an organized force of marauders whose threat far exceeds our expectations."
"The northern outskirts of Qingquan City span a vast area. It is impossible for us to maintain a defensive line dozens of kilometers long. That is neither practical nor feasible."
"The harsh truth is, if we pull our defense line back to our own doorstep and ignore your plight, scattered as you are across the north, you will meet only one fate: being defeated one by one by the vastly superior numbers of the Bone Chewer Tribe, becoming their slaves—or even their rations."
Watching the survivors turn pale, Old Luka paused for a moment before presenting the Lord Administrator's proposal.
"Our esteemed Lord Administrator has taken this into consideration, which is why we have a proposal for you to seriously contemplate."
"If you neither want to end up as rations for the marauders nor wish to wander far into unfamiliar lands, you might as well move here to our settlement."
The moment his words fell, a stir rippled through the parlor. The expressions of everyone seated there were wildly varied and dramatic.
Especially Brown.
He practically had the words "In your dreams" written all over his face.
Move to your place?!
Pure insanity!
Brown's heart surged with rage and humiliation. These treacherous, shameless scoundrels actually...! Actually... Well, he didn't even know how to condemn them, but they had clearly accepted his tribute—shouldn't they at least do something?
And to think he had harbored a sliver of hope and braved the blizzard to come here!
Only to hear such an absurd proposal!
Completely unfazed by their dramatic expressions, Old Luka continued in a calm voice:
"We understand that relocating is no easy task."
"However, compared to the other two paths and their likely consequences, I believe you should give serious consideration to our heartfelt, sincere proposal."
Chapter 200